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Yao vs. Hornets - 12/29/02


Yao does some vacuu-MING around the boards to pull down one of his four rebounds Sunday night against New Orleans. Scoring 12 points and recording 3 blocks, Yao and the Rockets pulled out a victory over the Hornets 97-85 Sunday night in Compaq Center.
The Rockets almost blew another game in ugly fashion. After tying a franchise record low by scoring 7 points in the third quarter Sunday night against the New Orleans Hornets, and missing their first 13 shots in that quarter, and blowing a 9-point halftime lead, the Rockets overcame almost certain defeat. They trailed by 9 points with less than ten minutes remaining in a game against a Hornets team that was 14-0 when leading after three quarters this season. But Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley scored 21 points collectively in those final ten minutes, and the Rockets outscored New Orleans 38-18 in the fourth quarter to win it 97-85.

Yao's contribution

Yao got into foul trouble and only played 27 minutes. But he was 5-for-8 from the field, scored 12 points, had 4 rebounds and 3 blocks. His biggest bucket was with 3:05 remaining in the game when he nailed a fadeaway jumper to put the Rockets ahead by five points. He also had a beautiful no-look pass with 36 seconds remaining in the game that brought the crowd out of their seats! Check out our Detailed Yao Analysis for all the great plays where Yao shined.

Started out hot, got cold fast

The Rockets started the game on fire by shooting 62% from the field in the first quarter. Nothing really spectacular happened from an offensive teamwork perspective: guys were just hitting their usual individually-created shots. When Francis and Mobley are 10-for-13 collectively as they were in the first quarter, you know that kind of success is probably not sustainable over the course of the entire game. You just hope the Rockets don't get too caught up in how well their shots are falling and just try shooting anything to see if it goes in. Instead, you hope for passing and ball movement to get the highest percentage shot possible in preparation for those periods when the shots don't fall. Little did the Rockets realize when everything was going in the hole that they were only two quarters away from one of their most pathetic shooting periods ever.

In the awful third quarter, we started asking ourselves that something was going to have to happen in the Houston front office first thing Monday morning to fix this team that was spinning out of control. After all, here the Rockets were continually digressing in the third game of a 6-game homestand, losers of three games in a row, playing a tired Hornets team that had just played the previous night in Indiana. Moreover, out of their last ten games the Hornets were playing their 9th game on the road, and had lost three in a row themselves. On top of that, over the past three games Jamal Mashburn (the Hornets' team leader in scoring) had only hit 16 of his last 60 shots, yet at halftime against the Rockets was 5-of-12 from the field. Why is it that everyone who is struggling finally gets their game going against the Rockets? The answer is bad defense.

The Rockets finally got hot in the fourth quarter after overcoming that 9-point deficit when the shots started falling again. It also didn't hurt that the Rockets played some defense. It's a wild rollercoaster ride when you're a Rocket fan, even from one quarter to the next. As Maurice Taylor said after the game, if the Rockets had lost this game, "then it would have been time maybe for panic." Now with this win, perhaps we will be able to say it was the game that was the turning point of their season. However, we've said the same thing after other games this season, so don't count on this victory being anything monumental. We hope we're wrong, though.

Other Rocket performances

Eddie Griffin finally started hitting some outside shots, having scored 3 three-pointers in the first half. We were surprised Griffin had the approval to shoot treys since he has been abysmal by making only 3 out of his past 18 attempts. But I guess that's Rudy-Ball.

One guy who didn't improve from previous games was Glen Rice. It's unbelievable Rice is not only starting, but is allowed to shoot. He had only hit 3 out of his past 12 attempts coming into this game, and had scored 6 and 3 points in his last two games. We're talking about the Rockets' starter at small forward here. Terrence Morris could do better than that!

Rice was 2-for-7 from the field Sunday night, and 0-for-4 from behind the arc for a total of 5 points. To make matters worse, when the Rockets were struggling in the 3rd quarter on their 0-for-13 drought, he had the audacity to jack up three long-range jumpers in less than a minute. If we knew Glen Rice was only going to take 3-pointers when he joined the Rockets, they should have kept fan favorite and athletically-challenged Matt Bullard. So far we don't see much difference between the two, except Bullard was more accurate. Can we bring 'Bull' out of retirement? He was a lot more effective…and cheaper! Or how about get Walt Williams back, who is now with Dallas? With the way Rice is playing, Rudy T. would be crazy not to give new addition and scorer James Posey more playing time. Posey had 5 points and 5 rebounds, hitting a clutch three with 7:11 remaining to close the deficit to 73-74, and also scoring a layup following an offensive rebound to put the Rockets ahead for good 80-79. If Posey matches up well defensively against other small forwards (which can't be too difficult after seeing Rice playing defense) look for Posey to take over the starting job. It couldn't happen soon enough.

Next up

The Rockets play Milwaukee on Tuesday, New Year's Eve, in Compaq Center. It's a late game (9:00 p.m. Houston time) since the Rockets will hold an after-game concert to bring in the New Year. Since this will be the latest tip-off they have ever had in their home history, it will be interesting to see if the Rockets sleepwalk like they did in the third quarter against the Hornets.

Detailed Yao Analysis


1st quarter - Yao starts the game.
10:28 From the three-point line, Eddie Griffin passes a long pass to Yao, who has great position about 4 feet from the basket and is only guarded by Jamal Magloire. This play is automatic: Yao leans toward the basket and banks it off the glass for the deuce. Magloire doesn't even try to contest it. The Rockets lead 4-3. Yao is 1-for-2 from the field.
7:59 Free Throws Again, Yao gets the ball deep in the paint with only Magloire guarding him. This time the entry pass is from Glen Rice (it looks like his teammates are making a conscious effort to get him the ball). Magloire hacks Yao on the arm, and Yao will shoot free throws. Yao points at Rice in acknowledgment of the good pass. He misses the first free throw, but makes the second one. Yao is 1-for-2 from both the field and the line and has 3 points.
4:32 Steve Francis drives the lane from the left side, draws Magloire over to him, and then dishes to Yao WHO IS IS STANDING UNDER THE BUCKET AND JAMS IT THROUGH TWO-HANDED!! That's what we like to see: high percentage shots like that one! Yao is 2-for-3 from the field for 5 points.
4:19   Yao picks up his second foul and checks out of the game for Cato. Yao has really done a great job staying out of foul trouble this season, so this is rare for Yao to check out of the game this early.
2nd quarter - The Rockets lead 33-21 and shot 68% from the field in the first quarter.
5:50   Yao checks back into the game. The Rockets lead 39-30.
5:04 Yao gets the ball in the middle of the paint, and immediately goes up for a jump hook using his right hand over Elden Campbell, SCORE IT!. What a perfect shot, and with much better rhythm than against the Knicks a couple of games ago. Yao is 3-for-4 from the floor with 7 points. The Rockets lead 41-32.
3:20 Free Throws Yao gets the ball in the middle of the paint again around the same place he made his last shot, but this time is fouled via the "Hack-a-Yao" approach as he goes up for the shot. Yao misses the first free throw but makes the second. He is now 2-for-4 from the line and has 8 points.
2:11   Yao checks out of the game for Cato.
Halftime - The Rockets lead 52-43 after scoring only 19 points in the 2nd quarter. Their field goal percentage dropped from 68% after the first quarter to 52% overall.
3rd quarter
11:25 Jamal Magloire goes up for a point blank jam over Yao, but Yao is able to block his attempt at the rim! Beautiful rejection!

The Rockets get outscored 12-0 to start the quarter and are 0-for-13 from the field, thanks in part to Glen Rice missing three ill-advised shots in about a minute. RETIRE, RICE, RETIRE! YOU ARE DOING THE ROCKETS NO GOOD!! But everyone else is missing their shots, too, and no ball movement is going on. The Rockets don't score for the frist 7 1/2 minutes of the quarter.
5:21 David Wesley dishes to P.J. Brown near the left baseline, and P.J. fakes out Eddie Griffin to get by him and goes up for a shot, BUT YAO IS THERE TO ALTER HIS SHOT AND GET A FINGER ON IT to change the shot enough to make Brown miss. Yao really got up high for that one!
4:17 David Wesley drives the lane and shoots after hesitating in the lane, but YAO IS THERE TO REJECT IT AND START A HOUSTON FAST BREAK. Of course, Glen Rice tries to shoot a three-pointer on a fast break, and misses (what else is new?). Spoiled opportunity!
2:42 Yao gets the ball on the left side in his favorite spot, dribbles twice slightly to his right, then pivots left toward the baseline, fakes a shot, and then leans in to score a SWISHER! Wow, what a lot of moves for that score! The Rockets needed that bucket! The Rockets trail 57-62. Yao is 4-for-7 from the field for 11 points.
1:30   On a referee's controversial call, Yao is called for an offensive foul while jockeying for position in the lane. Jamal Magliore totally flopped on the play, and the referees bought it. That's Yao's fourth foul, and he has to go to the bench because of his foul trouble. The Compaq Center crowd boos the refs vociferously for this very bad call.
4th quarter
4:54   Yao checks back into the game.
3:05 With the Rockets holding a slim 82-79 lead, Yao gets the ball in his favorite spot and all of his teammates clear out for him on the other side of the court so he can go to work. He pivots a couple of times, fakes, then shoots a fadeaway jumper near the elbow of the lane! SWISH! What beautiful form on that shot as Yao kept his arms up on the follow-through and continued to keep them up in exhaltation after the ball went through the net! The Rockets needed that big bucket by Yao, and he realized how big of a basket it was! They have scored 8 points in a row to put more distance between themselves and the Hornets for a 5-point lead.
1:22   Jamal Magloire receives the ball from Baron Davis on a drive through the lane, and Magloire's shot is affected by Yao's large presence. After Magloire misses, Yao tips it out of the paint to get it out of there. Great play by Yao to just stand there and not pick up his fifth foul, but yet intimidate the shot.
:36.5 Beautiful pass Yao gets the ball from Moochie Norris in his favorite spot on the left side just outside the paint. Moochie runs past Yao toward the baseline, with Yao in effect setting a screen. Then with Yao having his back to the basket, YAO THROWS A NO-LOOK PASS TO MOOCHIE UNDERNEATH THE BASKET ON THE RUN, AND MOOCHIE SCORES THE LAYUP!! That pass has ESPN Sporstcenter written all over it! The crowd goes crazy! The Rockets lead 97-83.

The Rockets go on to win the game 97-85. Limited because of foul trouble, Yao scored 12 points, had 4 rebounds and recorded 3 blocks.




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