The Nets picked a bad night to come out flat, uninspired and ineffective. With a nation of NBA-hungry fans tuning in from the other side of the globe to watch Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian on the same court, the Nets offered up one of their worst performances of the season.

In a game that was expected to be seen on TV by an estimated 200 million people in China watching an 8:30 a.m. tipoff - and perhaps a few dozen more in prime time in New Jersey - the Nets lost, 114-91, in a game they never led, rarely threatened, and barely seemed equipped to do anything about.

"This was a tough one," said Vince Carter, who had only 10 points on 5-for-15 shooting. "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 tonight."

With the loss, they fell to 13-14, back under .500 for the first time since they were 6-7 on Nov. 25, and dropped to 5-10 at home.

And it had very little to do with the fact that Yao easily outplayed Yi in a highly anticipated matchup of China's two top players. This one was about an atrocious first quarter in which the Nets managed only 13 points and never recovered, and about the equally poor performances of Carter and Devon Harris, who joined his backcourt teammate with a season-low 10 points on 2-for-9 shooting, and played only 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.

Afterward head coach Lawrence Frank was quietly dejected and gloomy at his team's lack of energy and defensive commitment, as well as its over-reliance on outside shooting.

"He probably takes it the hardest because there are things we can do better and he really takes responsibility," Harris said. "I think it's more on myself and Vince on this one."

Yao led the 19-9 Rockets with 24 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots as six of their players scored in double figures, including lightning-quick point guard Aaron Brooks, who had 22 points and six assists.

The Nets were led by Keyon Dooling, who had 17 points and five assists subbing for Harris.

The Nets got off to a brutal start, falling behind 29-13 in the first quarter on 6-for-25 shooting, including Harris' 0-for-4 from the field. They stayed relatively even the rest of the way, but after that beginning, it was just too late.

While the Rockets shot a blistering 58 percent (22-for-38) in the half, including 7-for-11 from beyond the 3-point line, the Nets shot just 16-for-45 (35.6 percent).

Yi had 10 points and seven rebounds, both numbers close approximations of his season averages. And in another close approximation of his overall season, he was not much of a factor.

Because the game drew such intense interest in China, there were many Chinese reporters on hand to record the third meeting between the two teammates on the Chinese national team. When they met on the court during pregame warmups and shook hands, dozens of reporters and photographers crowded in and had to be ushered off the floor by security guards.

In the stands, many of the 16,303 in attendance sounded as if they had come to watch Yao, cheering all his dunks and blocks.

Yi noted that the game held more significance on a global scale than the typical NBA regular-season contest.

"Only because a game between me and Yao is for all of China, a lot of fans watch the game back home," he said. "And tonight we lost the game probably because in the beginning we didn't play hard enough."

After the game Frank was asked to assess Yi's performance, which was hardly the main theme of the evening.

"I look at it more as a team," he said. "We lost. I think we should all be disappointed. One of the core concepts of our team, to have a chance to be successful, is that we have to outwork the opposition and I think tonight we didn't do that, and as a result we lost. So, in terms of any individual performance it's about the team, and we have to be significantly better."

David Waldstein may be reached at dwaldstein@starledger.com