After another blowout loss, the Rockets’ 2^nd half playoff push is beginning to look like a flop.

Dwight Howard went 11-11 from the field on his way to 30 points and 16 rebounds Wednesday, cruising past every big man the Rockets threw at him.  It was Howard’s 19^th double-double in a row, setting an Orlando Magic record. 

The Rockets never found a rhythm offensively.  Shooting guard Kevin Martin missed his first seven shots.  Luis Scola missed his first five.  Houston managed a decent job of moving the ball and creating open shots, but couldn’t make them.  The low point of the first half came when Luis Scola attempted to draw a foul on Orlando center Marcin Gortat near the elbow of the lane.  Gortat slid right past Scola, who flopped to the hardwood like a fish and missed his shot badly.  The play drew groans from a restless Toyota Center crowd.

The Rockets showed a bit of life in the third quarter, when Martin began to create for himself.  With 6 minutes left in the game, the Rockets trailed by only nine.  The Magic took over easily down the stretch, however, scoring easily.  On one possession in the fourth, the Rockets missed three open shot on the same possession.  Few fans stuck around to see the end.

Orlando is one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams, and the Rockets entered the contest undermanned with Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry on the bench in suits.  Still, the game bore almost no resemblance to Houston’s inspiring wins early in the season.  As the losses mount, the Rockets must now face the prospect of seeing their playoff hopes slip away.

Cold starts and poor finishes have doomed the Rockets in 2010.  The team has looked ill at ease since sending Carl Landry to Sacramento in exchange for Martin, struggling to integrate the guard into the lineup.  Martin, for his part, has not yet found his stroke in Houston.  Coach Rick Adelman searched his bench for help Wednesday, eventually playing all for new players acquired at the trade deadline. 

In order to remain competitive in the West, the Rockets will have to find a way to recapture the passion and heart they played with in the first half of the season.  Vets like Scola and Shane Battier have appeared worn down of late, but with Ariza injured and Landry in Sacto, there will be little relief until Martin and the Rockets’ newly acquired big men begin to gel with the squad. 

If the Rockets are to have any shot at the postseason, that will have to happen quickly.  Defeating Howard and the Magic is a tall order for a team starting a 6’6” center, but with each loss, Houston’s margin for error shrinks closer to nil.  That would be a deflating end to a season-long campaign that began with such pride.  The Rockets must find a way to restore regain their confidence and swagger now, not later, if they’re to be playing games in April.