Record: 32-21.

Today: New Jersey at Toyota Center, 7:30 p.m.

TV/radio: FSH; 610 AM and 850 AM (Spanish).

NBA Trade deadline: THURSDAY

The Rockets may or may not be in the market to make an 11th-hour deal, but if they are, it will have to be done before 2 p.m., the cutoff time for all trades.

FOLLOWING four days away from the merry-go-round, the Rockets returned to face the season's stretch run with the calliope music still playing in the background.

If life isn't entirely a carnival, it does often resemble the view through funhouse mirrors, where nothing is ever quite as it seems.

The Rockets are, after all, a team that has posted sterling road wins at highly regarded Boston and Orlando while also dropping home games to the dregs of Washington and Indiana.

"We all know what happened before the All-Star break," said Yao Ming. "We are really up-and-down. I think after this break, we really don't have much time left."

It is a strange tick-tick-ticking in the ears of a team that has the NBA's eighth-best overall record (32-21) and is only a half-game out of having home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. But that's because the Rockets are only three games away from being out of the playoffs altogether.

So they reconvened for a Monday evening workout that had the same trouble and the same challenge. Tracy McGrady missed another practice and will not play against the New Jersey Nets tonight as he prepares to seek more opinions on the left knee that underwent arthroscopic surgery May 6, and the rest of the lineup needs to find an identity.

"We want a healthy Tracy McGrady rather than a Tracy McGrady that's hobbled by injury," said Rafer Alston. "For myself, it's four years and running that we've been dealing with injuries on this team. I learned to put it aside my first year.

"Hey, you just have to keep it going, understand there's a task still at hand and with the hopes that he can come back. I know I would really like to see him back on the floor. I know this team needs him."

The Rockets come out of the break to play five straight home games in a revolving-door season that's been beset with injuries and has not seen a winning streak longer than four games.

"We have to get our defensive identity back," said coach Rick Adelman. "That's for sure. We have to find ways to make sure Yao's the main guy we're going to and really try to find a way to get a little more energy off the bench."

Other than Ron Artest continuing to take McGrady's spot in the starting lineup, there are no changes coming to shake the Rockets out of their recent slow starts.

"I really haven't considered that," Adelman said. "I've tried to figure if there's anything else we can do differently. Maybe not having shootarounds. Maybe going to the gym a little early."

Yet the Rockets keep looking at themselves in the mirror and seeing past the cracks and the flaws, seeing a team that they believe still can challenge in the playoffs. They look at the Western Conference standings and insist they do not see a potential playoff matchup in which they can't compete.

"I don't think so. I really don't," said Adelman. "I think we've played against some of the better teams in the league. The Lakers are probably a tough matchup for us. They were a tough matchup when they had (Andrew) Bynum and (Pau) Gasol together. They're big for us.

"But we played them actually without a couple of guys at home and played them pretty good. They took care of us at their place. ... But I think if we come out and play the way we're capable of playing, we should be able to compete with anybody."