Tilman Fertitta has got something cooking in Houston.

And when doesn’t he?

The gregarous, driven, multibillionaire owner of the Houston Rockets also owns more than 600 seafood and steak restaurants, starting with Willie G’s and the Landry’s chain. The Texas native has built in the service and entertainment industry a vast empire that vaulted him into the Forbes 400 richest people on the planet eight years ago and most recently up to No. 140 in America with a net worth of $4.9 billion.

Yeah, he’s a made man.

And he’s trying to make much more.

Whether he’s opening Golden Nuggets casinos or various eateries or speaking his mind on reality television shows or publishing his new motivational business book titled “Shut Up and Listen!” the 62-year-old Fertitta is always on his own fast break.

And now, in his third year as the owner of the NBA franchise he bought for $2.2 billion, Fertitta really likes his team remade from a year ago and isn’t backing down from anyone.

“We’re really good,” Fertitta said in a half-hour phone conversation Monday. “We’ve lost a few games on last-second 3-pointers when we were ahead by two or we would be right there as the second seed now. But I’m not worried about anybody in the West.”

He respects those front-running teams in the Western Conference. But they don’t frighten him. Not much does.

As it is, the Rockets still sit as a comfortable fourth seed with the playoffs looming two months from now — tied with Utah, although Houston owns the head-to-head tiebreaker — and are ranked among the best five teams in the league, according to the NBA’s Power Rankings. They’re finally healthy. They’re confident. They’re even playing well defensively despite their size limitations.

Even the potentially combustible, flamboyantly dressed James Harden-Russell Westbrook pairing couldn’t have gone any more smoothly as they coexist as well on the court as they do on the cover of GQ magazine.

Fertitta struggled to discuss moving on from Chris Paul and trading him to the Thunder for Westbrook. He said the chemistry between Westbrook and new teammate Harden has been undeniable, in part because they arrived in the NBA virtually at the same time, just a year apart in Oklahoma City.

“Everything worked out,” he said. “I think Chris is having a great year at Oklahoma City. It worked out for both. James and Russell came in the league at the same time, and they can talk to each other differently. One can say, ‘Screw you,’ and it’s no big deal. Chris was four years older. Four years in basketball is like a normal 10 to 15 years in business life.”

The Rockets are playing well as they near the stretch drive. They’ve had wins over Utah, Dallas, Boston and the Lakers and might be peaking.

“I think Milwaukee is head over heels above everybody else,” said Fertitta, who will be at the Office Depot at 907 W. Fifth St. to sign copies of his New York Times’ best-seller from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. “We just need to get home court for the first and second rounds and see what happens.”

They just shook up their lineup by trading away solid center Clint Capela for a smaller Robert Covington and are embracing a small-ball philosophy that might or might not work in the postseason. It’s working now, but what will happen in the playoffs when head coaches adjust more often than they brush their teeth and opponents can more easily adapt to Houston’s style in a longer series than one single night?

What’s the big deal, Fertitta asks.

“We basically changed out a guy who’s 6-10 to a guy who’s 6-7, 6-8,” he said. “Are you really that much smaller? It makes the big guy for the other team go out on the perimeter. Did you see Rudy Gobert trying to keep up with Russell? Russell was running him around like crazy. It’s working.”

But will it work over an extended postseason? No one knows, but the 2012 Heat employed it with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for a title.

The experiment is off to a great start. The Rockets are 8-2 without a legit center. They’re relying on former Longhorn strongman P.J. Tucker to play the position, and he pushes 6-5 on a good day. Of course, the NBA has evolved into largely a positionless league. And the Rockets’ latest incarnation creates open spaces for drivers such as Westbrook, who has cut way down on his volume of 3-pointers in favor of getting to the rim against bigger, slower defenders.

The Rockets lost on their home floor last year when they fell short of the Warriors once again. At least that nemesis is gone. Or neutralized until Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are full strength again next year.

“None of us fear L.A. or the Clippers or Denver like we feared Golden State,” he said. “It’s not like how we were scared of them. We could easily win the West this year or get knocked out in the first round. Both L.A. teams, Denver, Houston, we’re all excellent teams. Just comes down to somebody gets hot and makes a shot. Our chances are as good as they’ve ever been.”

Fertitta is more visible than most of the other 29 NBA owners. He’s not nearly as irascible or outspoken as Mavs counterpart Mark Cuban. He doesn’t lash out at referees as Cuban regularly has.

When the Rockets’ audit of missed calls by officials in a Warriors-Rockets series is brought up, Fertitta conveniently rebutted, “That’s my basketball people who got mad at ’em. Honestly, I don’t think we should have filed the protest because honestly we blew the 22-point lead. But if something is important to my players and basketball ops people, I give them a lot of leeway.”

Fertitta hasn’t always done it by the book.

So naturally he’s written one. It’s full of what he calls Tilmanisms.

Like be “plappy.” That’s for those bad days at work when you don’t want to be there, and you’re not really happy. “You got to play happy some days,” he said.

Like no spare customers. There’s competition around every corner, and you’d better not take any customers for granted. “You got to keep ’em interested all the time,” he said. “Like a new menu. Like bringing in new talent for the Rockets.”

Like the 95/5 rule. Don’t focus on the 95% of things you do well. “Look for the 5% that is wrong,” he said. “You have to pinpoint things and outwork people. It’s a lifestyle book as much as a business book.”

And Fertitta lives it.

He’s on record last summer as saying the Rockets had a window of three or four years to win a championship. And now?

“After that,” he said whimsically, “we’ll find a new window.”

And another Tilmanism is born.