"Vi-vaaaa Las Vegas!" sang Yao Ming as he taped a promotional spot for the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend.

Does Yao know much about Elvis Presley?

"I have never seen any of his movies," Yao said. "But I guess he was very, very big and everyone loved his music."

When asked if there was a Chinese equivalent to Elvis as a national icon and personality, Yao drew a blank until someone pointed at him.

"Me?" he said, laughing and shaking his head. "No, please. I'm big enough."

After the word came that Yao will travel to Las Vegas for the All-Star festivities and continue his workouts in Sin City, there was never concern from the Rockets.

"Yao's a diligent guy. It doesn't matter where he works out," coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "There are certain guys who are good workers. There are other guys who could get distracted. Yao's not a guy to get distracted. ... He's got a long rehab still ahead of him."

You can never have too many easy wins. That's what the Rockets are saying after back-to-back blowouts of 30 and 21 points over Portland and Philadelphia.

"You definitely want to beat the teams that have worse records than you," Bonzi Wells said. "As good as we can be, it should be that way a lot of nights."

Tracy McGrady nodded.

"Any chance you get to rest your core players in the final minutes, that's a plus," he said.

Then there's the head coach.

"I tried to convey to the team today that people say these have been easy wins," said Jeff Van Gundy. "It's just the opposite. It's hard to win. I think they should be proud of how much they put into those games to win."

Coach Jeff Van Gundy used part of Tuesday's practice to express his displeasure with the sloppy play by his reserves in the fourth quarter against the 76ers.

"It was both (mental and physical)," he said. "To me, that's where you build up trust, where a coach can trust that you're ready, that you know what you're doing at both ends of the floor. ... Quarters like that hurt the level of trust, certainly."

Indiana-born Bonzi Wells and Chicago native Juwan Howard have a friendly wager on the Super Bowl.

"You know, it's about our roots and where we come from with the Colts and Bears in the game," Wells said. "Juwan's got the big contract, you know, and he's trying to get into my short money."

The starting lineup - with Earl Watson replacing Luke Ridnour at the point is 4-6 in its first 10 games together. The Sonics' last visit to Toyota Center four weeks ago resulted in a 103-96 loss.

The pendulum keeps swinging. The Rockets have followed up a three-game losing streak by winning three in a row. They have rediscovered their defensive direction and aggressiveness on the boards.

Watch all of the different defensive gyrations the Rockets will go through to try to slow down the prolific Ray Allen. His 26.1-point average ranks ninth in the NBA, and he popped in 32 vs. the Rockets on Jan. 3.

In the NBA this season, only the Grizzlies (three) have won fewer road games than the SuperSonics (four).