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Yao vs. Kings - 12/10/02

Yao lofts a fadeaway jumper over Vlade Divac on Tuesday night. The Rockets went on to win 103-96 to break Sacramento's 6-game winning streak.

The Rockets finally broke a 9-game losing streak to the Sacramento Kings Tuesday night at raucous Compaq Center in Houston by taking a big lead by halftime and maintaining it the entire second half. They hit some rough spots, but thanks to some clutch plays by Yao, the Rockets prevailed 103-96. The Rockets also snapped Sacramento's 6-game winning streak overall, who still own the Pacific division's best record at 18-6. The Rockets are now 12-8.

Yao started off slowly from the field, only hitting 1-6 in the first half, but did contribute with 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Overall, he finished with 17 points (5 of 14 shooting), and was 7-8 from the free throw line. He also had 15 total rebounds (which tied Brian Grant for Tuesday's high across the NBA) had 4 blocks, and 3 assists. And for the fourth straight game, Yao recorded a double-double (more than 10 points and rebounds).

Not needing much scoring from Yao in the first half, Yao's teammates shot lights out by racking up 62 points, their highest halftime total of the season (exceeding a previous high of 50 points). They also shot 5-7 from three-point land in the first half, and still finished 7-14 by the end of the game. "Partner in crime" Steve Francis scored 32 points (10-17 shooting), Eddie Griffin finally busted out with 13 points (5-8 from the field), and there must have been close to 10 dunks in this game for the Rockets collectively.

All of this made for one of the most exciting games of the year for the Rockets, who seem to be hitting their stride after beating two very good teams in a row (they beat Philadephia Saturday night). Moving to a new downtown arena next year, the Houston fans almost brought down the house a few months early with all of the great, exciting plays put on display. Naah, just kidding--there's no way Houston is going to tear down Compaq Center, formerly known as The Summit. It's still a nice place, and should be considered a historical landmark after the two NBA championships that were won there in 1994 and 1995. ;-)

The Rockets play the Grizzlies Friday night in Memphis. It will be an interesting match-up between two very skilled, young centers: last year's NBA Rookie of the Year Pau Gasol and this year's probable 2003 Rookie of the Year.

as of 12/12/02

Next game

The Rockets play the Grizzlies Friday night. Unbelievably, the Grizzlies (5-18) have won three in a row, even though the teams they beat were Phoenix (not bad at 11-10), Miami (5-16) and Denver (6-16). This is kind of scary. The Rockets have been known to take weak teams lightly in previous years, and Hubie Brown is a good coach. The Grizzlies are also shooting for their fourth straight victory, which would be a franchise first. They have also won 4-of-6 at the Pyramid. And crazy things can happen against opposing teams when skinhead Jason Williams start jacking up threes from the parking lot. He had his career high against Houston last year when he ripped them for 38 points on 16-28 shooting. Watch out.

But Yao has been a steadying influence since getting more playing time a few weeks ago. All the Rockets have to do is give Yao the ball in clutch time, take some "Hack-a-Yao" fouls, hit his free throws like he did Tuesday night (7-8) and the Rockets should get their 13th 'W' on Friday the 13th (not good karma with those numbers, though, huh?). We'll see if the Rockets can build on two great victories against Philly and Sacramento and avoid losing against a team they should beat.

Detailed Yao analysis

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1st quarter - Because of technical difficulties, play-by-play analysis is not available for the first and second quarters.
		Yao made only 1 of 5 field goal attempts in this quarter and hit 3-4 free throws.
2nd quarter - Rockets lead 58-41.
	Free Throws	It was another relatively quiet quarter for Yao, who took one shot and missed it. He also hit 2 of 2 free throws. At the end of the first half, Yao had 7 points (1-6 from the field, 5-6 from the line), 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.
*Highlight of the first half for Yao:*		In an extremely rare play...Eddie Griffin (standing on the left side near the three point line) passes the ball to Yao in the paint, but Yao sees that the ball has been underthrown and will bounce in front of him. So what does Yao do? With his long reach and without hesitation, he slaps at the ball as it is about to hit the floor and gives the ball the force it needs to make its way to Francis, who is standing along the baseline near the right corner. Francis then drives the baseline and reverse lays it in! This was an incredible play that showed Yao's court awareness, peripheral vision, and quick thinking. We've said it before: Yao will be one of the best passing centers the NBA has ever seen.
3rd quarter - Rockets lead 58-41.
12:00		Yao starts the second half.
10:45		From his favorite spot on the left side, Yao dribbles twice and into the middle of the lane and puts a jump shot over Vlade, but it's too strong and misses. Rockets lead 62-47.
8:51		Sacramento has gone on an 8-0 run to reduce their 17 point half-time deficit to 8. Yao gets the ball in his favorite spot, methodically faces up to the basket with Vlade guarding him. Vlade gives him lots of space, so Yao just measures the distance and goes up for a simple jump shot (no fadeaway) and DRAINS IT! The Rockets needed that bucket. The Rockets lead 64-55.
7:08		With only 1 second on the shot clock, Yao gets a pass in the middle of the lane as he's moving toward the basket, but the ball slips out of his hand as he goes up for a little hook shot, and the shot clock expires. Ugly sequence.
4:37		Vlade drives from the right side of the paint to the basket and tries one of his crafty up-and-under shots against Yao, but Yao times it perfectly and SWATS IT AGAINST THE GLASS FOR THE BLOCK! The crowd goes crazy! Take that, wise man! Yao is learning how to defend Vlade.
3:58		Yao gets the ball at the corner of the lane (elbow), and Vlade lunges for the steal, which puts him out of defensive position. SENSING AN OPEN LANE TO THE BASKET, YAO DRIBBLES THE BALL ONCE TOWARD THE BASKET, TAKES A GIANT STEP AND TOMAHAWK JAMS IT DOWN!!! WE HAVE NEVER SEEN YAO TAKE THE BALL TO THE HOLE FOR A JAM FROM THIS FAR OUT! Yao is so smart to see this opportunity, and did it against Vlade the veteran. The crowd goes crazy once again!! The Rockets lead 73-62. Yao now has 11 points (3 for 10 from the field), 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.
1:51		Yao checks out of the game for Cato.
4th quarter - The Rockets lead 81-71.
7:28		Yao checks back into the game after Chris Webber controls the boards over Eddie Griffin, and with a layup closes the deficit to twelve points, 88-76.
6:58		From the free throw line, Eddie Griffin delivers a great pass to Yao about head high as Yao is cutting to the basket, but Yao mishandles the pass. However, Yao is able to save the ball as he's going out of bounds and passes it behind his head blindly to Griffin again (great presence of mind to avoid passing it to a King). Griffin passes it back to Yao as he comes back in from out of bounds about 19 feet away from the bucket. Yao goes up for a jumper, but misses.
5:55		The ball comes to Sacramento's Keon Clark in the middle of the paint with Yao defending him. Clark goes up for an off-balance fadeaway with a pump fake, but YAO EASILY REJECTS THE SHOT and the ball goes out of bounds. What was Clark thinking? There was no way he was going to get this shot over Yao.
4:40		The Kings have cut the lead down to five points, and the Rockets need a bucket. Yao gets the ball in his favorite spot on the left side, and with Webber guarding him, dribbles into the paint and goes up for a sweeping hook shot. The ball hits the back of the iron, then the backboard, AND THEN GOES IN!! Big field goal for Houston. They are up 91-84. Yao now has 13 points and 13 rebounds.
3:40		Yao gets passed the ball in the middle of the paint with his back facing the basket. Vlade is guarding him one-on-one. Yao then pivots to his right, falls back for a fadeway shot and releases the ball as he is coming back down to earth. THE BALL THEN BANKS OFF THE BACKBOARD AND SWISHES THROUGH THE NET!! Unbelievable shot to make it bank off the backboard! Tim Duncan, the proclaimed premiere NBA bank shot artist, couldn't even do that. Yao has 15 points on 5 of 13 shooting.
3:20		Yao gets a big rebound from an important Chris Webber miss; a rebound that would have been rebounded by the Kings if not for Yao's work ethic to get good position, and natural height. The crowd is loving it! They sense a victory with a 9-point lead with only 3 minutes and 20 seconds remaining.
3:00		Yao is guarded one-on-one by Vlade again. From Yao's favorite spot, he fakes left, then goes right with a little Dream Shake fadeaway shot, but misses short.
2:47		Webber misses a shot, and Yao is there to grab a rebound over a smaller guard. Yao's like a vacuum cleaner out there sucking up all the rebounds! There's a nickname of some sort that could go with this vacuum analogy, but can't figure it out yet.
2:27	Assist	Yao is passed the ball in his favorite by Moochie. Moochie then cuts around Yao, who bounces a no-look drop pass to Moochie "Vlade style" as Moochie cuts through a 3-foot gap between Yao and the baseline. Moochie drives around Yao and lays it in! BEAUTIFUL PLAY! THE CROWD RISES TO THEIR FEET. The Kings don't know what hit them. This is like a page out of the Sacramento playbook! Yao is so dangerous in all aspects of the game. This is his third assist. Sacramento's announcers admit wholeheartedly after this play: "Yao Ming is doing it all right now," and "He's definitely showing you this is a special player."
1:08	Free Throws	Yao is fouled as he holds the ball until he can get fouled so he can shoot free throws and put the game out of reach. He is fouled, and makes them both. Yao is now 7-8 from the line. The Rockets went on to win 103-96. Yao finished with 17 points (on 5-14 shooting, 7-8 from the line), 15 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists.

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