NBA's Rockets fire coach McHale

Kevin McHale has been fired as coach of the NBA's Houston Rockets after a 4-7 start, with assistant JB Bickerstaff taking over the club on an interim basis, general manager Daryl Morey said.

The Rockets have lost four games in a row, longer than any drought they suffered last season, when they went to the Western Conference Final, and had a players-only meeting Tuesday morning after a 111-95 loss to Boston.

Bickerstaff, the son of long-time NBA coach and executive Bernie Bickerstaff, will get his first test when the Portland Trail Blazers visit on Wednesday.

McHale, who went 193-130 during his tenure with the Rockets, signed a three-year contract extension worth more than $US12 million ($A16.8 million) last December. He was hired by the club before the start of the 2011-12 campaign and guided the Rockets into the playoffs in each of the past three seasons.