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Yao vs. Blazers - 12/09/03
 Yao calls time-out in the 2nd quarter after falling to the court. Yao was key in leading the Rockets to victory, scoring two clutch hook shots to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. Yao finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, and one block. (Photo courtesy AP) |
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TUESDAY, 12/09/03 - Tuesday night's game against Portland was an up-and-down one for Yao Ming, and it almost ended disastrously. Yao had only taken 6 shot attempts (and made 3) in the first three quarters, but it was okay because the Rockets really hadn't needed him since they led 72-60 heading into the fourth quarter. But then Portland made a huge comeback in the fourth quarter, thanks to hitting 5-of-7 three-pointers, and Houston's offense went cold. Combine those two factors, and the result was a 4-point Rocket deficit, 89-85, with three minutes remaining
That's when Yao turned it on. With 1:37 remaining, Yao hit a big 5-foot hook shot in the lane to pull the Rockets within two points. On the Blazers' next possession, he played great defense and was able to draw a charging call on Zach Randolph, and this turned the ball over to the Rockets. That's when Yao hit another hook shot in the lane with 1:02 left in the game to tie it at 91-91. After Steve Francis hit a HUGE jumper with 20 seconds remaining to put the Rockets up 93-91, the Blazers missed their following shot attempt. The Blazers then fouled Yao on the ensuing inbounds play to put him on the line, and he could have iced the game, but he missed both free throws! That almost never happens to Yao! The Blazers brought the ball down and could have won it on a Damon Stoudamire 3-pointer, or tied it with a 6-foot follow-up shot by Randolph, but they both missed. Thus, the Rockets escaped by the skin of their teeth. If the Blazers had hit one of those last-second shots and gone on to win the game, it surely would have erased the gains Yao had made in building himself as a clutch player with those two big hook shots in the game's final minutes. Thank goodness for Yao and his fans that didn't happen! Yao finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds and one block. It would have been a tremendous blow to the Rockets' egos if they had lost to the Blazers, who had lost all six of their road games coming into the match, but had won 7-of-8 against Houston. The Rockets also led by 16 points late in the third quarter, and 10 points with a little over six minutes remaining. Blowing leads like those are inexcusable. One Blazer that needs to be given props is Randolph, who scored 31 points and racked up 11 boards against the Rockets. That's after a 29 point and 13 rebound performance in his previous game against Memphis. What's scary is that Randolph is only 22-years old, and he's getting better. Cuttino Mobley was the star of the game for Houston. He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, and finished with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He also was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. He even had a very rare alley-oop dunk from a Steve Francis pass on a fast break, which was good to have come out of mothballs. Jim Jackson actually had a good night shooting (5-for-8 for 12 points) and seemed to handle the ball a lot more than usual for Francis. Mo Taylor also continued his stellar play by scoring 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting, along with 8 rebounds. The Rockets have now won 4 in a row, 7 straight at home and are now in a first-place tie with Dallas in the Midwest division at 13-7, but don't get too excited. The Rockets are still a long way from being a first-place threat in the division. The Rox need to be able to put four great quarters in a row together without an offensive lapse like they had in the fourth quarter Tuesday night. At least they dished out a fair number of assists (18), which has been the key to their 4-game winning streak. They also shot an amazing 52.8% from the field for the game, even with the cold spell in the fourth quarter. And they are developing some confidence winning close games, having gone on a 6-0 run against Portland when they REALLY needed it at the end of the game. Building up this confidence will really come in handy later in the season when the Rockets are fighting tooth-and-nail for playoff position (hopefully). |
| Unfortunately, I will not be able to produce a Detailed Yao Analysis and shot chart for this game because of travel conflicts. This may be the first time in my 100+ games of covering Yao's games that has happened! |
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