The Houston Rockets have developed into one of the most enjoyable teams to watch. They push the ball, spread the floor, drive to the basket, take threes and generate points.

And it's working. The Rockets are 31-27 and in eighth place in the Western Conference with one of the youngest teams in the league.

Houston leads the league in pace at 98.72 possessions per 48 minutes and are fifth in points per 100 possessions (106.8), according to NBA.com/stats. But Rockets coach Kevin McHale admits running that kind of high-speed, point-generating offense is not easy, for a reason that is counter-intuitive. Already a good quote, McHale explained why.

"They all say they want to run until they run, and running's hard," McHale said. "Do you run to get the mail? Do you run to throw your toast in the toaster? No one likes running. It's hard to do. They just don't want to run. All players say they want to run. When you really start running, there are few players who really want to run."

NBA A-Z: Wittman kept Wizards season alive

MORE: Will Rockets ever take off?

This is a snapshot of Houston's offense: Get the ball and go. Two players run deep to the corners. Two players run wide on the wings. Space the floor and let James Harden or Jeremy Lin handle the ball and go from there with drives to the basket, ball movement and pick-and-rolls in order to get open shots inside or out while the defense scrambles.

"To move and play our offense, you have to get the court spread," McHale said. "You use the depth of the court, so you have to get all the way down to the corners. You have to use the width, which means you have to get out wide which means you have to run every single time.

"The offense only works if one or two guys are outrunning their guy. If you can get one wing outrunning his man and one big outrunning his man on every possession — it doesn't have to be the same guy every possessions. But if you can get one of your one, twos or threes out ahead or one of your four or fives out ahead, your break is going to work because you're going to have people chasing."

MORE: Center uses jersey as tribute to Iran

It is a fun style to watch and to play. The Rockets are second in points per game (106.3), ninth in three-point percentage (36.8%), second in three-pointers attempted per game (28.7) and in threes made per game (10.6) and second in fastbreak points per game (18.7). With Harden's ability to draw fouls, the Rockets are also sixth in free throw attempts per game (24.8).

It's also difficult to defend because it takes effort and energy on the defensive side to match Houston's pace, and Houston runs odd pick-and-roll combinations with its perimeter players. For example, the small forward will set a pick for the shooting guard or the shooting guard will set a pick for the point guard as opposed to using a big man as the screener.

Rockets second-year forward Chandler Parsons, who loves to hang out at the three-point line, admits it's not easy to play that style.

"The way we play is exhausting because we get up and down," Parsons told USA TODAY Sports.

But he added, "The coaching staff gives us so much freedom where it's really a fun system to play in. With our personnel, it suits us best — just getting a stop on the defensive end where it all starts and just being able to get out in transition and do what we do best.

"With our personnel we have and the makeup of our team, it's a no-brainer to go up and down like we do and space the floor like we do and let our playmakers make plays."

MORE: Chris Bosh teaches computer coding

It's no secret. The Rockets will try to outscore opponents, and that comes with side effects. The Rockets lead the league in turnovers per 100 possessions (16.4) and are ninth in points allowed per 100 possessions (104.5).

And sometimes the ball doesn't move or players don't move like McHale wants.

"We still have times where (the ball) gets sticky. Sometimes we don't move the ball or bodies," McHale said. "But it's slowly getting better."

Earlier in the year, McHale knew his team struggled to play the way he wanted and contemplated switching to a different style.

"There were sometimes early were I wondered if we were going to stay with it, and we did," McHale said. "They're working a lot of the kinks out, so we're able to put a lot offensive pressure on teams. We don't run quite as much as I think we need to run. We need to get the ball out more, attack more. Sometimes, we get a little slow, and we don't play well slow. I like it overall though."

This story is part of Jeff Zillgitt's weekly NBA A-Z column. This week's column focuses on the Washington Wizards' incredible turnaround and how Randy Wittman kept up team morale. It also hits on a stacked field for this summer's Eurobasket tournament and how the Orlando Magic did better than advertised in the J.J. Redick deal.