We've asked in the past if things could get much worse for the Rockets, but now we really wonder -- these are rough times in Rocketville.
The Rockets went to Dallas and calmly staked their place in this league as a lottery-bound ballclub, getting soundly thumped by the Dallas Mavericks 114-95 in Dallas.
6 Mavericks scored in double figures (and 2 more had 8 points each), led by Michael Finley with 28 points, 13 boards and 7 assists.
The loss drops the Rockets' record to 2-7, and included more bad news. Steve Francis was ejected late in the second quarter after flagrantly fouling Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, and was ejected after throwing what will probably be viewed as a punch in the direction of Steve Nash after Nash grabbed Francis.
If that's the case, Francis will miss his matchup Thursday against Jason Williams and the Kings.
How bad were things for the Rockets?
Bryce Drew led the team with 15 points... and it took 5-18 shooting to get that.
The Rockets let the Mavs shoot over 52%, and shot just 37% themselves (piss-poor 63% from free throw line), including 5-20 from three-point range. Drew and Walt Williams were a combined 2-14 from beyond the arc.
The lone bright spot, if you could call it that, is Shandon Anderson saw more time and scored 14 points to go with 3 steals and 3 assists. Carlos Rogers also played well with 13 points and 10 boards.