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Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy always looks like he's miserable. The man doesn't have bags under his eyes ¡ª he has the anatomical equivalent of steamer trunks. And he'd have to spend a week at the beach just to boost his complexion up to chalky. And his hairline isn't receding ¡ª it long ago gave up to full retreat.

Van Gundy looks miserable because he is precisely that. He admits it. And straight out of the misery-loves-company file, Van Gundy wishes his players were suffering just as much as he has been.

Because to Van Gundy, suffering means paying the price to be a champion. It means working hard to win games ¡ª and working harder to win when the team is missing All-Star talents such as Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, both of whom sat out Friday's 85-78 loss to Portland with back problems.

But Van Gundy sees precious little evidence of that kind of to-the-bone suffering, which is the reason he gives for the three-game losing streak the Rockets are carrying to Sacramento for tonight's game against the Kings at Arco Arena, the first of a three-game West Coast swing.

Little things are vital

It's not that they are missing McGrady and Yao, who combine for almost 50 points per game. To Van Gundy, it's because the Rockets don't care enough to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Making that one extra pass. Cutting off a passing lane. Getting a critical rebound. Hitting a shot that needs to go in.

And to Van Gundy all the little things the Rockets get in the habit of doing could mean the difference between a playoff run and playoff ruin.

"You can never exhale if you want to be a champion," Van Gundy said. "You can never relax, you can never think we've arrived and you can never underestimate the competition. It's a miserable way to live. It is. It's a miserable way to live. But if you want to be a champion, then you're willing to be that miserable and that exhausted.

"That's why you see Michael Jordan grabbing that (championship) trophy and breaking down, because of all you had to go through to get to that point. And you see that year in and year out ¡ª the champions really do pay the price. It doesn't have to be a lot more, but it has to be a little more than their opponent.

"And that is an exhausting, miserable, grinding experience. But if you want to win at this level, you're not going to out-talent anybody. You're going to pay a deeper price for something that you consider meaningful. And that's how you can tell if a guy considers something to be meaningful."

And according to Van Gundy, the Rockets haven't done much to help themselves these past three games, all home losses.

On a losing streak

First it was an 86-83 defeat to Utah, in which the Rockets were outscored 9-2 in the final two minutes by the team they are fighting for that coveted No. 4 seed.

Then it was Golden State, when Yao was limited to four field-goal attempts. And in Friday's game the Rockets clawed back and took the lead with two minutes to play, only to see the Trail Blazers make the plays down the stretch to escape with their first win at Toyota Center.

Even more distressing to Van Gundy is the Rockets' current slide has occurred with the No. 4 seed in the West ¡ª and the home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs that comes with it ¡ª within their reach.

"I don't know why, but they don't get the importance (of the home-court advantage)," Van Gundy said. "They just don't get it. Watch what we're doing right now. That's telling you that we don't get it.

"The overwhelming evidence is that is that it is important. Obviously we haven't grasped that. But that's also maybe why the guys on our team have not had more playoff success."

Playoff failings

Among whom is McGrady, who has made five trips to the playoffs but never has advanced beyond the first round.

And if things keep going the way they have, the Rockets, who are stuck on 47 wins, aren't likely to escape the first round.

"Is it important for us to win these games? I never liked losing, so yeah I think it's important," McGrady said. "I think it's important for us to start playing great basketball going into the playoffs.

"We definitely don't want to be struggling the way we are right now, losing leads down the stretch of ballgames. We've been saying it forever, but we need to start closing out games, we need to have better execution in games when it comes down to the stretch of the ballgame."