On a night when most of the other Charlotte Bobcats slogged through an 82-70 loss to the Houston Rockets, reserve center Byron Mullens was full of energy.

Why not? He had two seasons in Oklahoma City to catch up on his rest.

Mullens finished this miserable game with 15 points and 10 rebounds on a night when the Bobcats shot just 34 percent. Coach Paul Silas was forgiving afterward, saying , "I can't fault them; they played as hard as they could play. They just didn't have it."

That will happen occasionally in this compressed, 66-game schedule. The Rockets were in Charlotte on an off night Monday, and the Bobcats (2-8) were losing a close game in New York. Plus, starting small forward Tyrus Thomas missed this game, on Silas' orders, to rest sore legs.

That made it easy for the Rockets (3-6), who had been 0-5 on the road. Rookie Chandler Parsons, a 6-foot-9 forward from Florida, outran the Bobcats all night to finish with 20 points, including a spinning drive to the rim that clinched it with 1 1/2 minutes left.

Speaking of rising stars, 7-footer Mullens again had a coming-of-age game: topping the Bobcats in both scoring and rebounding.

When the Bobcats traded for Mullens, giving up a future second-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder, fans shrugged, if not worse.

"I worked my butt off the last two years," Mullens said. "When they traded me, a lot of people were saying, 'Why is he traded here?' Now I'm getting that support."

Mullens played bits and pieces of 26 games with the Thunder. As he noted, "we'd be up 20 or down 20, and I still wouldn't play."

Then, a few days into training camp, Thunder general manager Sam Presti came to Mullens, saying he was pursuing a deal with the Bobcats.

"He said, 'You're a good player and you're not going to play here. I'm going to send you to a place you'll play,' " Mullens recalled.

That's how it's worked so far. Mullens' game is expanding quickly.

Is he a starter? Silas said there are likely some games Mullens will start, but he needs a bulkier Gana Diop to counter some bigger centers.