Yao was a force inside. He led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in Houston's 114-91 rout Monday night at Izod Center that dropped the Nets below .500 for the first time since Nov. 25.

Yi finished with 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting and had seven rebounds in a game the Nets were out of early. They ended their four-game homestand at 1-3. Even worse, the Nets (13-14) lost by at least 20 points at home for the fifth time and dropped to 5-10 at Izod.

"This was a tough one," Vince Carter said. "This was a tough night for us. We definitely needed a win. This was a great opportunity for us to see where we are and how far we've come, and we didn't post."

Normally, the Nets start games fast at home and then fade, but they came out flat Monday. Maybe they were looking ahead to the two-day Christmas break that begins after tonight's game in Indiana because the Nets' defense and effort took a holiday.

The Nets allowed Houston to shoot 58.1 percent from the field, including 9-of-19 on threes. They were down double digits 5:31 into the game and trailed by at least 10 for the last 41:16.

"We lost the game probably because in the beginning we didn't play hard enough," Yi said. "They're a strong team. They shoot outside, have Yao inside. We've got to play better defense."

Yao and Yi were the main attractions on a night when about 40 credentials were issued to members of the international media. There was a large contingent of Asian fans among the announced crowd of 16,303. Yao and Yi were cheered loudly throughout the game. Carter may have been the only person to get a stronger ovation than Yao during pregame intros.

About 90 minutes before the game, Yao came out to shoot and Yi walked over to him to say hello. As they shook hands, a group of Asian journalists ran on the court to get photos before security guards told them to leave the court.

That was more resistance than the Nets showed all night.

"They came out with a little bit more energy," Devin Harris said. "We were a little bit more dead.

"It definitely is a concern, coming out with lack of energy like we did. [Ticked] off? I'm pretty sure Coach is [ticked] off."

Keyon Dooling led the Nets with 17 points. Carter and Harris, who was in foul trouble, were non-factors. They each scored 10 points and combined to shoot 7-for-24.

Aaron Brooks had 22 points for Houston (19-9). Tracy McGrady had a relatively quiet night, scoring 12.

The Nets were down big in the first period and never recovered. They trailed by 21 at halftime and couldn't get back into the game. The Nets never drew closer than 16 in the second half. When they did in the fourth, Yao scored nine of the Rockets' next 11 points and had two blocks during that stretch to help push the lead to 22. Yao finished with four blocks and altered countless more with his length.

"We got outplayed," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "To have a chance to be successful, we have to outwork the competition. We didn't do that."

E-mail: iannazzone@northjersey.com