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Yao scores on a beautiful move in the 1st quarter against the Raptors Saturday night.

As we have been saying the past two games, Yao has not been performing as badly as sportswriters have been trying to depict. Statistically, Yao had a better game against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night because he finally got to play more minutes (24), and as a result got more shots (4 for 7 from the field for 8 points). He also had four rebounds and 1 block. Not only did Yao have better stats, but he helped the Rockets win 88-76. Steve Francis said after the game, "You want to go by how the rhythm of the game is going. The rhythm of the game is going in his favor, and he stepped up. I thought Yao brought a lot to the table tonight with some intensity." We knew all along Yao could play to this level if he were only given the playing time. Like we said in our last game summary, Rocket center Jason Collier is a defensive problem, and it looks like Rudy T. agrees since he didn't play Collier at all in this game and gave those minutes to Yao...as he should be doing. Believe it or not, we also think Yao might actually learn something by watching Rocket starting center Kelvin Cato and the way Cato relies so much on the slam dunk for his offense. Yao could use a little bit more aggressiveness to put shots away, especially since he's 5 inches closer to the rim than his tallest competitors. Check out our detailed Yao analysis below.

Detailed Yao analysis

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1st quarter
8:18	Yao checks in and replaces Kelvin Cato after he picks up two quick fouls.
8:05	Steve Francis misses a second free throw, and Yao is tall enough to reach over 7" foot center Jelani McCoy and tip the rebound off a Raptor and out of bounds. The Rockets maintain possession. Opposing teams can no longer take for granted 'easy' rebounds now with Yao behind them.
7:41	Vince Carter shoots a 20-foot jumper that falls short, mainly because Yao came out and put a hand in his face, requiring Carter to shoot the ball with a higher, more difficult arc.
6:45	Yao gets the ball in the middle of the lane on a fast break with only one man guarding him. What you would think is going to be a sure dunk becomes a pass to the baseline corner to Mobley. Yao needed to try to slam this one home, even if there was a chance he would have been fouled.
5:43	Yao gets the ball in the post for the first time in the game, and quickly turns to shoot a jumper off the glass, but aims too high off the glass and the ball caroms off the rim. The good thing is that there was no way this shot ever had a chance of getting blocked with him going glass like this. I'll take that shot from Yao anytime.
5:23	Yao gets the ball about 15 feet from the basket on the left side, and does his favorite spin move toward the basket with N'Diaye guarding him. After getting underneath the basket, he fakes the ball to get N'Diaye going toward the baseline, spins again right and jump hooks a shot perfectly with his right hand. The crowd erupts on Yao's first basket in Compaq Center! This play reminds us of that famous highlight reel play of Hakeem putting David Robinson in the 'popcorn machine' during the 1995 playoffs.
4:47	On the very next offensive possession, Yao gets the ball in the same position about 15 feet away from the basket along the baseline. The crowd buzzes in anticipation of what Yao is going to do next. After faking a jump shot, Yao twirls around Mamadou N'Diaye, takes a giant step toward the basket (foot touching the edge of the paint), and softly lays the ball in with his right hand (photo at top of page) to the shock of the Raptor defense and delight of the crowd! No one had ever seen a man of this size make this kind of play before. This will certainly mean more double-teams on Yao if he keeps making plays like this.
4:47	Up high by the Rockets logo (about 14 feet), Yao is harassed by Antonio Davis, but adroitly finds a cutting Eddie Griffin in the middle of the lane. Griffin is fouled and makes both free throws.
3:05	Yao quickly slides over to cut Antonio Davis off underneath the basket trying to finish the fast break. The sudden change in plans makes Davis lose the ball. Yao picks it up and within a second, quickly starts the fast break by passing it to Francis. Yao shows his ability to think at "NBA speed" in this sequence.
2:46	Yao quickly breaks through a screen and puts a hand in the face of Antonio Davis (his man), who lofts a high shot just short of the 3-point line in the left corner. Davis misses.
2nd quarter
11:34	Kenny Thomas drives the lane, spins and gives a hard pass to Yao only 3 feet away. Yao juggles the ball a couple of times to gain possession, pump fakes, gets his man in the air, goes up for the shot, and gets fouled. Yao misses both free throws, his first attempts ever in the NBA regular season.
10:41	Yao grabs an offensive rebound in the paint that is normally obtainable, but he succeeds because of his extended reach. After gaining control, he makes a beautiful bounce pass to Francis, who is standing under the basket. Francis is fouled on the play. Yao's length and finesse are both exhibited on this play. Yao checks out of the game for a rest after 9 minutes and 37 seconds of playing time.
6:27	Kenny Anderson drives the lane to create something, but Yao is there to cut him off. The ball comes into James in the paint, with Yao's arms straight up. With nowhere to go, James dribbles it out of the paint, with Yao following him and shoots a quick fadeaway that misses over Yao's attempted block. Yao's presence is felt twice within a span of 5 seconds.
5:55	The Rockets call time-out, and Yao checks out of the game.
4:11	Yao checks into the game for Cato, who goes straight to the locker room to get treatment on some sore ribs. The Rockets are up 63-45.
3:35	Jelani McCoy gets the ball down low, fakes right, then spins left and jumps straight up into Yao to get fouled.
3:30	Francis drops the ball off to Yao in the paint, which is delivered low. Yao tries to get the handle, and is tied up by Morris Peterson. Yao easily wins the tip against the 6'5" Peterson
1:56	Yao dribbles and spins right on the left baseline at the edge of the paint, then turns and spins left while simultaneously putting a "Shaq shoulder" on his man N'Diaye, and then puts up a right-handed hook shot that hits the front of the rim, then the backboard, and drops in--resulting in a thunderous roar from the Yao-hungry crowd. We loved seeing Yao using his big body to create space for his shot.
0.48	Yao shows his court savvy after getting double-teamed in the post, he immediately passes the ball cross-court to Moochie. Although Moochie failed to hit the jumper, we're impressed again by Yao's quick decision-making skills.
0:01	With less than a second left in the quarter, Morris Peterson tries a leaning acrobatic shot before the buzzer, but Yao slides with him the entire way and blocks the shot from the side. His Rocket teammates high-five him as the quarter ends.
4th quarter
11:47	Yao gets the ball from a left side angle near the corner of the free throw line, fakes left to Mobley on the wing, and then shoots an uncontested shot. Unfortunately, the shot misses, but it shows Yao is not afraid to put up the long jumper--this attempt being his longest shot attempt this season.
11:30	On a fast break, Mobley lofts the ball to Francis for an alley-oop attempt. N'Diaye jumps in the way and disrupts the pass, but is unable to control it and bounces the ball backwards. A trailing Yao is rewarded for hustling on the play and being there to pick up the loose ball, and with both hands slams it home --Yao's first dunk in the NBA! The crowd roars its loudest of the night. You gotta love the hustle from the big guy!
10:13	Yao aggressively comes out to defend Michael Bradley, goes for Bradley's pump fake, and Bradley drives from the left side to the hoop for an easy layup.
9:06	Kenny Thomas passes the ball to a wide-open Yao, who goes up for the one-handed jam, but Peterson for the Raptors comes in to make an amazing block on a surprised Yao. Yao shouldn't feel bad--it was a great defensive play.
6:44	Yao mishandles a pass and turns it over. He looked away and started thinking about his next move before fully catching the pass and bringing it under control.
6:28	On a semi-fast break, Steve Francis shows some selfishness by not passing the ball to Yao, who holds good position in the paint with only one man around. Instead, Francis dribbles for about 10 seconds trying to create his own shot, and ends up getting tied up for a jump ball. Back in the day with Hakeem, that pass would have been made by any Rocket guard. C'mon, Steve, show Yao some love!
4:45	Yao checks out of the game after playing 11 minutes and 26 seconds in the 2nd half, for a total of 24 minutes for the game. Note to Rudy T.--Keep giving Yao this kind of playing time.

Asian-American singer Coco Lee sings the National Anthem before the game with Yao in the background. Lee is originally from Hong Kong, and sang the theme to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the Oscars.

Yao snares a rebound over Antonio Daniels of the Raptors.

Yao goes baseline against Mamadou N'diaye.

Yao high-fives with Cuttino Mobley.

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