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Yao vs. Suns - 3/16/03

Block Party: Yao and Eddie Griffin go after the shot of Phoenix Sun Jake Tsakalidas Sunday night in Houston. Yao finished with 4 blocks to pace the Rockets to a big victory over the Suns 85-75. (AP photo)

By building a big 26-point lead in the first half against the Suns, the Rockets thought they were in store for an easy victory and seizing of a one-game lead over Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. But remember this is the Rockets we're talking about where hardly anything comes easy.

The Rockets only scored 9 points in the third quarter and had their lead cut down to 6 points in the fourth. We started to think the label of "Choke City" was soon going to be brought out of mothballs. It was against these same Suns in the 1994 semi-finals when Houston blew a 20-point second-half (and 4th quarter) lead against the Suns and earned the Choke City title (which later turned into "Clutch City" as they made their run to the championship). But with a few clutch buckets by Yao late in the game, the Rockets held on to fend off the hard-charging Suns 85-75.

In the exciting first half, Yao was unstoppable as he scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Glen Rice was also huge by hitting 3-of-4 three pointers (5-for-7 overall) for 13 points. Nothing is more demoralizing when an opposing player like Rice keeps hitting 3-pointers and makes you pay for gambling and leaving him open. The crowd went bonkers after those shots, which had to work against Phoenix's confidence in their attempt to get only their second victory in their past five games, and 12th victory on the road this season. In the festive first half, the crowd celebrated like St. Patrick's Day arrived a day early as the Rockets shot 62% from the field and passed the rock around for 18 assists.

A tale of two halves

But everyone went cold in the second half, including Yao who missed his next 6 shots. However, in the fourth quarter when his team really needed it, Yao proved to be the stabilizing force as he made his last 3 shots, had a key assist, and scored 9 points in the final 4 ½ minutes. You've got to read our Detailed Yao Analysis to get an idea of just how exciting that fourth quarter was, as well as the rest of the game. By helping win the game with a game-high 20 points (8-of-15 shooting) and 4 blocks, he outdueled fellow Rookie of the Year candidate Amare Stoudemire (12 points on 3-of-10 shooting). If Yao can put his team in the playoffs at the expense of the Suns, there should be no doubt who will win NBA Rookie of the Year.

With the win, Houston has now won its fifth game in a row, the first time that has happened since April 5th through 13th of 2000. Just 11 days previous to Sunday night's game against Phoenix, the Rockets won the first game of this streak against the Toronto Raptors, a game we thought would be one of the biggest victories of the season if they end up making the playoffs. Next to that game as being the biggest is the come-from-behind victory against the Clippers with the infamous lane violation on Andre Miller on a made free throw. If the Rockets had lost that game, their confidence surely would have been shot. Now they are on a roll (record-wise).

It's hard to tell if the Rockets are toying with their fans' optimism once again as they embark on a tough 5-game road trip over 8 days. But clearly Houston is playing with the most confidence it has had all season, and they may be peaking at the right time. Now that they are 35-30, they are only 1 ½ games behind Utah (37-29) for the 7th playoff spot. We'll see what happens starting Tuesday night in Seattle.

cYAO,
John

Detailed Yao Analysis
vs. Phoenix Suns 3/16/03
brought to you by John and Jeff

1st quarter - Yao starts the game.

11:46 In the first play of the game, Eddie Griffin makes an entry pass to Yao who is backing down in the paint. Yao catches the ball and before any of the Suns can react, he turns to his left and rattles in a 5-foot baby hook with his right hand! Nice catch and shoot! Yao opens the game with his score and the Rockets lead 2-0.

11:09 Free
Throws From the top of the key, Yao sets a solid screen on Suns' All-Star point guard Stephon Marbury. With Marbury now out of the picture, Steve Francis drives through the right lane and as Suns' center Jake Tsakalidis picks him up, Francis makes a beautiful behind-the-head flip pass to Yao who is cutting through the paint. As Yao goes up for the easy layup, Sun's power forward Shawn Marion fouls Yao in the act of shooting. Yao cringes as he realizes he was soooo close to getting the basket and the foul. Yao misses the first free throw, but he's able to make the second. Yao has 3 points, and the Rockets lead 3-2.

The Rockets seem determined to get Yao involved, as Yao has now been the focal point for the first three plays!

9:23 Assist Yao has the ball a couple of feet away from the left edge and is guarded by Jake Tsakalidis. As the Suns send shooting guard Penny Hardaway to double team Yao, Yao makes a long cross-court pass to Cuttino Mobley who is now open thanks to the double team. From the upper-right side, Mobley steps up to the 3-point line, shoots, and scores! The Suns trail the Rockets 6-4.

8:47 From the upper-left side, Mobley passes inside to Yao in the left edge post. Yao turns to face the basket, pulls up right in front of Tsakalidis, and nails the 7-foot jumper! The Rockets lead 8-6.

7:03 Off an Eddie Griffin screen, Cuttino Mobley catches the ball at the free throw line and proceeds to back down Shawn Marion. After a few bumps with Marion, Mobley turns to his left for a jumpshot, but at the last second he dishes out to the left corner to Yao. As Tsakalidis charges towards him, Yao squares up and shows his range by draining the 20-foot bucket! The crowd loves it! That's three in a row for Yao! Yao has 7 points and the Rockets have built up their lead, 13-8.

Suns play-play analyst and former NBA player Eddie Johnson comments, "He has range all the way out to the 3-line. He doesn't just take that many that far out, but the guy has a soft touch."

6:11 Stephon Marbury loses Francis off a screen and penetrates down the middle. As Marbury goes up for the layup, Yao shifts over from the weak side to bother the shot attempt. Realizing that the odds are against him, in mid-air Marbury dishes down low to the other Rookie of the Year candidate Amare Stoudemire. Yao is quick in enough to rotate over, but picks up his second foul as Stoudemire pump fakes and puts up a two-footer. Due to the foul trouble, Yao is forced to an early exit. Kelvin Cato checks in for Yao who leaves with 7 points on 3-for-4 shooting. The Rockets lead the Suns 13-8.

2nd quarter - The Rockets lead the Suns 25-19. Cato starts the second quarter.

8:27 Yao checks back into the game for Cato. The Rockets have increased their lead to 8 points and lead 33-25.
4:30 Francis finds Yao in his favorite post position, near the left edge. Yao dribbles once against Tsakalidis, turns to his right, and knocks down a fallaway jumper with a Tsakalidis hand in his face!!! Sweet, sweet shot Yao! Yao is really showing his shooting touch tonight. He's 4-for-5 from the field, and has increased the Rockets lead to 42-29.

4:08 Intimidation This is what we have been waiting for...Yao vs. Amare. Amare gets an entry pass in the left edge post. Amare turns to the basket and fakes a pass. He then drives to the middle of the paint, spins back to the basket, pivots and goes up for a one-handed two-footer. Normally, we can see Amare making this shot, but Yao is no ordinary defender. Yao, never losing good position on Amare during his moves, jumps high and alters Amare shot attempt and causes a miss!

3:47 Assist The Suns defense is scattered. Moochie Norris dribbles up the right side and makes a nice left-handed pass to Yao who is cutting down the left lane. Tsakalidis is late to rotate to Yao and as he moves in on him, Yao makes a quick Larry Bird-like pass to Eddie Griffin who is standing to the right of the basket. What a BEAUTIFUL PASS BY YAO within a second after receiving it! Eddie pump fakes once on Stoudemire who flies by from behind, and puts in the easy 2-footer off the glass. Few big men in the NBA have that kind of touch!!

Suns' TV analyst Eddie Johnson says, "Everything is going their way right now and they are getting layups and the Suns are having a tough time getting any type of shot."

3:24 On a nice give and go play, Shawn Marion inbounds to Penny Hardaway who passes right back to Marion on the deep right side of the basket. As Yao rotates to Marion, Marion tries to go around Yao to the middle. Marion puts up a 3-footer, but Yao is there to emphatically swat it away! The Suns lose possession of the ball when trying to save the ball from going out of bounds.

3:02 Frustrated with Yao's great playing, Jake Tsakalidis gets rough and cheaply pushes Yao, fouling him for the second time in several seconds. He leaves the game shortly thereafter with 4 personal fouls.

2:51 Mobley passes to Yao who is positioned further out than his usual left edge post. No problem for Yao! Yao turns around on Suns' center Scott Williams and nails an 18-footer! The crowd goes nuts! Yao is having a fantastic second quarter with 4 points, 1 assist, and 1 block! The Rockets are also having a great quarter and have broken the game open and now lead 46-29! James Posey is up off the bench whipping his towel excitedly after every great play!

2:15 Cato comes in for Yao. Yao leaves with 11 points on stellar 5-for-6 shooting! The Rockets lead 48-29.

Halftime - The Rockets end the first half with a strong effort and a 24 point lead! The Suns trail the Rockets 55-31. This is the lowest point total in the first half of a game this season for Phoenix, who scored only 12 points in the third quarter.

3rd quarter - Yao starts the third quarter.

10:22 Shawn Marion drives down the left baseline and tries to float in a 6-footer. The shot hits the far side of the rim and misses. There's a fight for the rebound, and Amare Stoudemire comes out strong with the ball. Stoudemire jumps and rises high for the point blank dunk, but Yao's there to defend the rim and deflects Amare's jam!

10:09 Stephon Marbury penetrates down the middle for a layup but misses. Again, there's another fight for the rebound and somehow Marbury ends up with the loose ball. Being only a few feet from the basket, Marbury decides to take it strong into Yao, but there's no chance for Marbury's shot as Yao records his third block of the game!

7:02 Jake Tsakalidis sets a screen for Stephon Marbury near the top of the 3-point line. Marbury drives in and slips into the middle where he is met by Yao. Marbury runs into Yao and bumps him off. Thinking that he's created enough space, Marbury hikes up a shot, but Yao is much too tall and easily blocks the shot for his fourth rejection of the game!

A few minutes later, Amare Stoudemire goes up for another dunk, but he misses over Yao. That prompts Suns TV analyst Eddie Johnson to say, "[The Suns] are tired of dealing with that interior right now. I mean nothing is easy down there. One of the most underrated stats is blocked shots because Yao Ming doesn't have but a couple, but he has changed about 20."

A few seconds later, Johnson continutes: "Sometimes players are stubborn. And they buy into wanting to challenge a guy (Yao), and it's playing right into the Rockets hands. Yao Ming is just standing there just swatting or changing shots."

3:54 Yao gets the ball down low in the right post. Yao's guarded by the shorter 6'7" Shawn Marion, and puts up a pretty right-handed hook shot, but from out of nowhere Stoudemire streaks in and goaltends the shot! But no whistle blows! Yao can't believe it! No one in the Compaq Center can believe it! That's a bad "no-call" by the refs!

0:56 Cato checks in for Yao. The Rockets, including Yao, have gone cold on the offensive end. Yao has 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting, and has missed his last 4 shots (although one of them should have been called for a goaltend). The Rockets lead has dwindled, and the Suns trail by only 7 points. The Rockets lead 62-55.

4th quarter - At halftime, the Rockets led by 24 points. Twelve minutes later, the Rockets only lead by 9 points! The Rockets as a team were only 2-for-15 from the field, scoring only 9 points in the third quarter. The Rockets lead 64-55.

5:44 Yao comes back in for Cato. Cato has done a wonderful job in Yao's stead. In the limited minutes since the third quarter substitution, Cato has had 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block and has provided a lot of energy to the Rockets as well. The Rockets lead 70-60.

5:31 Near the left elbow of the free throw line, Yao sets a pick-and-roll play for Mobley. As Yao slips into the paint, Mobley makes a nice bounce to Yao that travels right between Tsakalidis and Hardaway. Yao goes up for the one-handed slam, but from the weakside Amare Stoudemire comes over and climbs very high to block Yao. We have to tip our hat to Stoudemire for making a great defensive play.

4:29
+
Free
Throws From the right side of the rim, Mo Taylor turns to the basket and passes to Yao all alone underneath the basket, who pump fakes once, goes up and hits the easy 2-footer off the glass and IS FOULED by Shawn Marion who rotated too late! YAO PUMPED HIS FIST IN ELATION AFTER THE BALL DROPPED THROUGH AND HE WAS FOULED! Yao wanted that one! Good ball movement on the part of the Rockets! Yao aces the bonus free throw, and now has 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting. More importantly, those points have increased the Rockets lead back to 9. The Rockets lead 73-64.

3:54 Francis passes to Yao at the outer left-post region. As Francis backs off to let Yao work, Marbury rushes in to double-team Yao. Yao pivots back to get a better look at the floor, so he can pass out of the double team...or so we assume. As Yao continues to look to pass, he suddenly explodes untouched to the baseline with a left-handed dribble and goes in for the TWO-HANDED THUNDER SLAM! Yao's fluid move to the basket was simply amazing! We have never seen him make that play before where it looked like he was going to pass, then went baseline for the slam! You can tell he's constantly adding to his repertoire of moves. Yao has now scored the Rockets' last 5 points. The Rockets maintain their 9 point lead, 75-66.

3:15 Assist Yao gets the ball in the left post, turns and dumps it down to Mo Taylor in the middle of the paint. Taylor works his way to the right of the rim and puts in a small hook shot over Stoudemire! Yao has now been a part of the Rocket's last 7 points! The Suns trail 77-69.

2:32 Mobley gets the ball to Yao in his favorite position. Yao pivots to his right to face Tsakalidis and the basket. Yao then squares up right in front Tsakalidis, shoots a 20-footer, and drains it! There's nothing that Yao can't do!!! With these last few crucial possessions, Yao has really stepped up and produced for the Rockets! Yao now has 18 points and the Rockets continue to lead, the score is 79-69.

Eddie Johnson states: "He's puttin' on a show. They have gone to him every time in the fourth quarter, and he has either made a pass or has made a shot."

0:18 Free
Throws With only 18 seconds left, Yao gets fouled off a rebound he collects from an Amare Stoudemire free throw miss. With the Suns only down by 6 points, you can count on Yao to make the free-throws. Yao hits both free throws, stabilizing his team's lead to 83-75.

0:00 The Rockets are able to hold off the Suns and finish with the crucial victory. The Rockets beat the Suns 85-75. Yao ends the game with 20 points (8-for-15 from the field and 4-for-5 from the line), 8 rebounds, 3 assist and 4 blocks. The Rockets now hold a one game lead over the Suns for final spot in the Western Conference; in addition, this win has increased the Rockets winning streak to 5 games!

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1st quarter - Yao starts the game.
11:46		In the first play of the game, Eddie Griffin makes an entry pass to Yao who is backing down in the paint. Yao catches the ball and before any of the Suns can react, he turns to his left and rattles in a 5-foot baby hook with his right hand! Nice catch and shoot! Yao opens the game with his score and the Rockets lead 2-0.
11:09	Free Throws	From the top of the key, Yao sets a solid screen on Suns' All-Star point guard Stephon Marbury. With Marbury now out of the picture, Steve Francis drives through the right lane and as Suns' center Jake Tsakalidis picks him up, Francis makes a beautiful behind-the-head flip pass to Yao who is cutting through the paint. As Yao goes up for the easy layup, Sun's power forward Shawn Marion fouls Yao in the act of shooting. Yao cringes as he realizes he was soooo close to getting the basket and the foul. Yao misses the first free throw, but he's able to make the second. Yao has 3 points, and the Rockets lead 3-2. The Rockets seem determined to get Yao involved, as Yao has now been the focal point for the first three plays!
9:23	Assist	Yao has the ball a couple of feet away from the left edge and is guarded by Jake Tsakalidis. As the Suns send shooting guard Penny Hardaway to double team Yao, Yao makes a long cross-court pass to Cuttino Mobley who is now open thanks to the double team. From the upper-right side, Mobley steps up to the 3-point line, shoots, and scores! The Suns trail the Rockets 6-4.
8:47		From the upper-left side, Mobley passes inside to Yao in the left edge post. Yao turns to face the basket, pulls up right in front of Tsakalidis, and nails the 7-foot jumper! The Rockets lead 8-6.
7:03		Off an Eddie Griffin screen, Cuttino Mobley catches the ball at the free throw line and proceeds to back down Shawn Marion. After a few bumps with Marion, Mobley turns to his left for a jumpshot, but at the last second he dishes out to the left corner to Yao. As Tsakalidis charges towards him, Yao squares up and shows his range by draining the 20-foot bucket! The crowd loves it! That's three in a row for Yao! Yao has 7 points and the Rockets have built up their lead, 13-8. *Suns play-play analyst and former NBA player Eddie Johnson comments, "He has range all the way out to the 3-line. He doesn't just take that many that far out, but the guy has a soft touch."*
6:11		Stephon Marbury loses Francis off a screen and penetrates down the middle. As Marbury goes up for the layup, Yao shifts over from the weak side to bother the shot attempt. Realizing that the odds are against him, in mid-air Marbury dishes down low to the other Rookie of the Year candidate Amare Stoudemire. Yao is quick in enough to rotate over, but picks up his second foul as Stoudemire pump fakes and puts up a two-footer. Due to the foul trouble, Yao is forced to an early exit. Kelvin Cato checks in for Yao who leaves with 7 points on 3-for-4 shooting. The Rockets lead the Suns 13-8.
2nd quarter - The Rockets lead the Suns 25-19. Cato starts the second quarter.
8:27		Yao checks back into the game for Cato. The Rockets have increased their lead to 8 points and lead 33-25.
4:30		Francis finds Yao in his favorite post position, near the left edge. Yao dribbles once against Tsakalidis, turns to his right, and knocks down a fallaway jumper with a Tsakalidis hand in his face!!! Sweet, sweet shot Yao! Yao is really showing his shooting touch tonight. He's 4-for-5 from the field, and has increased the Rockets lead to 42-29.
4:08	Intimidation	This is what we have been waiting for...Yao vs. Amare. Amare gets an entry pass in the left edge post. Amare turns to the basket and fakes a pass. He then drives to the middle of the paint, spins back to the basket, pivots and goes up for a one-handed two-footer. Normally, we can see Amare making this shot, but Yao is no ordinary defender. Yao, never losing good position on Amare during his moves, jumps high and alters Amare shot attempt and causes a miss!
3:47	Assist	The Suns defense is scattered. Moochie Norris dribbles up the right side and makes a nice left-handed pass to Yao who is cutting down the left lane. Tsakalidis is late to rotate to Yao and as he moves in on him, Yao makes a quick Larry Bird-like pass to Eddie Griffin who is standing to the right of the basket. What a BEAUTIFUL PASS BY YAO within a second after receiving it! Eddie pump fakes once on Stoudemire who flies by from behind, and puts in the easy 2-footer off the glass. Few big men in the NBA have that kind of touch!! *Suns' TV analyst Eddie Johnson says, "Everything is going their way right now and they are getting layups and the Suns are having a tough time getting any type of shot."*
3:24		On a nice give and go play, Shawn Marion inbounds to Penny Hardaway who passes right back to Marion on the deep right side of the basket. As Yao rotates to Marion, Marion tries to go around Yao to the middle. Marion puts up a 3-footer, but Yao is there to emphatically swat it away! The Suns lose possession of the ball when trying to save the ball from going out of bounds.
3:02		Frustrated with Yao's great playing, Jake Tsakalidis gets rough and cheaply pushes Yao, fouling him for the second time in several seconds. He leaves the game shortly thereafter with 4 personal fouls.
2:51		Mobley passes to Yao who is positioned further out than his usual left edge post. No problem for Yao! Yao turns around on Suns' center Scott Williams and nails an 18-footer! The crowd goes nuts! Yao is having a fantastic second quarter with 4 points, 1 assist, and 1 block! The Rockets are also having a great quarter and have broken the game open and now lead 46-29! James Posey is up off the bench whipping his towel excitedly after every great play!
2:15		Cato comes in for Yao. Yao leaves with 11 points on stellar 5-for-6 shooting! The Rockets lead 48-29.
Halftime - The Rockets end the first half with a strong effort and a 24 point lead! The Suns trail the Rockets 55-31. This is the lowest point total in the first half of a game this season for Phoenix, who scored only 12 points in the third quarter.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the third quarter.
10:22		Shawn Marion drives down the left baseline and tries to float in a 6-footer. The shot hits the far side of the rim and misses. There's a fight for the rebound, and Amare Stoudemire comes out strong with the ball. Stoudemire jumps and rises high for the point blank dunk, but Yao's there to defend the rim and deflects Amare's jam!
10:09		Stephon Marbury penetrates down the middle for a layup but misses. Again, there's another fight for the rebound and somehow Marbury ends up with the loose ball. Being only a few feet from the basket, Marbury decides to take it strong into Yao, but there's no chance for Marbury's shot as Yao records his third block of the game!
7:02		Jake Tsakalidis sets a screen for Stephon Marbury near the top of the 3-point line. Marbury drives in and slips into the middle where he is met by Yao. Marbury runs into Yao and bumps him off. Thinking that he's created enough space, Marbury hikes up a shot, but Yao is much too tall and easily blocks the shot for his fourth rejection of the game! A few minutes later, Amare Stoudemire goes up for another dunk, but he misses over Yao. That prompts Suns TV analyst Eddie Johnson to say, "[The Suns] are tired of dealing with that interior right now. I mean nothing is easy down there. One of the most underrated stats is blocked shots because Yao Ming doesn't have but a couple, but he has changed about 20." A few seconds later, Johnson continutes: "Sometimes players are stubborn. And they buy into wanting to challenge a guy (Yao), and it's playing right into the Rockets hands. Yao Ming is just standing there just swatting or changing shots."
3:54		Yao gets the ball down low in the right post. Yao's guarded by the shorter 6'7" Shawn Marion, and puts up a pretty right-handed hook shot, but from out of nowhere Stoudemire streaks in and goaltends the shot! But no whistle blows! Yao can't believe it! No one in the Compaq Center can believe it! That's a bad "no-call" by the refs!
0:56		Cato checks in for Yao. The Rockets, including Yao, have gone cold on the offensive end. Yao has 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting, and has missed his last 4 shots (although one of them should have been called for a goaltend). The Rockets lead has dwindled, and the Suns trail by only 7 points. The Rockets lead 62-55.
4th quarter - At halftime, the Rockets led by 24 points. Twelve minutes later, the Rockets only lead by 9 points! The Rockets as a team were only 2-for-15 from the field, scoring only 9 points in the third quarter. The Rockets lead 64-55.
5:44		Yao comes back in for Cato. Cato has done a wonderful job in Yao's stead. In the limited minutes since the third quarter substitution, Cato has had 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block and has provided a lot of energy to the Rockets as well. The Rockets lead 70-60.
5:31		Near the left elbow of the free throw line, Yao sets a pick-and-roll play for Mobley. As Yao slips into the paint, Mobley makes a nice bounce to Yao that travels right between Tsakalidis and Hardaway. Yao goes up for the one-handed slam, but from the weakside Amare Stoudemire comes over and climbs very high to block Yao. We have to tip our hat to Stoudemire for making a great defensive play.
4:29	+ Free Throws	From the right side of the rim, Mo Taylor turns to the basket and passes to Yao all alone underneath the basket, who pump fakes once, goes up and hits the easy 2-footer off the glass and IS FOULED by Shawn Marion who rotated too late! YAO PUMPED HIS FIST IN ELATION AFTER THE BALL DROPPED THROUGH AND HE WAS FOULED! Yao wanted that one! Good ball movement on the part of the Rockets! Yao aces the bonus free throw, and now has 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting. More importantly, those points have increased the Rockets lead back to 9. The Rockets lead 73-64.
3:54		Francis passes to Yao at the outer left-post region. As Francis backs off to let Yao work, Marbury rushes in to double-team Yao. Yao pivots back to get a better look at the floor, so he can pass out of the double team...or so we assume. As Yao continues to look to pass, he suddenly explodes untouched to the baseline with a left-handed dribble and goes in for the TWO-HANDED THUNDER SLAM! Yao's fluid move to the basket was simply amazing! We have never seen him make that play before where it looked like he was going to pass, then went baseline for the slam! You can tell he's constantly adding to his repertoire of moves. Yao has now scored the Rockets' last 5 points. The Rockets maintain their 9 point lead, 75-66.
3:15	Assist	Yao gets the ball in the left post, turns and dumps it down to Mo Taylor in the middle of the paint. Taylor works his way to the right of the rim and puts in a small hook shot over Stoudemire! Yao has now been a part of the Rocket's last 7 points! The Suns trail 77-69.
2:32		Mobley gets the ball to Yao in his favorite position. Yao pivots to his right to face Tsakalidis and the basket. Yao then squares up right in front Tsakalidis, shoots a 20-footer, and drains it! There's nothing that Yao can't do!!! With these last few crucial possessions, Yao has really stepped up and produced for the Rockets! Yao now has 18 points and the Rockets continue to lead, the score is 79-69. *Eddie Johnson states: "He's puttin' on a show. They have gone to him every time in the fourth quarter, and he has either made a pass or has made a shot."*
0:18	Free Throws	With only 18 seconds left, Yao gets fouled off a rebound he collects from an Amare Stoudemire free throw miss. With the Suns only down by 6 points, you can count on Yao to make the free-throws. Yao hits both free throws, stabilizing his team's lead to 83-75.
0:00		The Rockets are able to hold off the Suns and finish with the crucial victory. The Rockets beat the Suns 85-75. Yao ends the game with 20 points (8-for-15 from the field and 4-for-5 from the line), 8 rebounds, 3 assist and 4 blocks. The Rockets now hold a one game lead over the Suns for final spot in the Western Conference; in addition, this win has increased the Rockets winning streak to 5 games!