There’s a pattern forming with this Rockets team, and it has nothing to do with talent.

Houston’s cleanest basketball lately hasn’t been producing wins. Their messiest has.

In Philadelphia and against San Antonio, the Rockets played what looked like better basketball for long stretches. The ball moved early, while shots fell and rhythm came easily. Against the Sixers, Houston shot 45-percent from three and generated offense all night. Against the Spurs, they dropped 36 points in the first quarter on 60-percent shooting and looked fully in control.

They lost both games anyway.

Those nights, at least in part, were “pretty”- and tenuous. Once momentum shifted, the Rockets unraveled. Missed free throws piled up, turnovers turned live, and fouls stopped possessions before they could matter. When Plan A stalled, there was no appetite for the grind that followed.

Now flip that to Detroit and Atlanta.

Neither game was aesthetically pleasing early. The offense sputtered and the pace felt uncomfortable- but Houston stayed connected. They controlled the glass, tightened ball security late, and leaned into defense when scoring wasn’t automatic. Against Detroit, they survived chaos. Against Atlanta, they dragged the Hawks into it.

Those were ugly wins, and they held.

That’s the distinction. When Houston wins ugly, it’s because they accept the work. When they lose pretty, it’s because they assume the game will keep cooperating.

This team doesn’t lack firepower. Kevin Durant, Alperen Şengün, and the surrounding pieces can overwhelm opponents when the floor is spaced and the rhythm is flowing. The issue comes when the rhythm breaks, and it always does.

The Rockets are learning, in real time, that good basketball doesn’t always feel good. And until they embrace that fully, they’ll keep letting clean wins slip while scrapping out the hard ones.

Pretty doesn’t win you games. Discipline does.