YaoMingMania.com
Back to Home100% dedicated to Yao Ming's life in the NBA
Yao vs. Cavaliers - 12/17/03
 Yao Ming contests Tony Battie's shot in Cleveland on Wednesday night. The Rockets went on a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to win 89-85 to end a 3-game losing streak. Yao had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. (Photo courtesy AP) |
|
WEDNESDAY, 12/17/03 - The Rockets won a game they should have on Wednesday night in Cleveland, defeating the Cavaliers 89-85. It wasn't easy, though. The Rockets were down 71-78 with 5:21 remaining, and another disappointing loss was on its way. But then something strange happened. Steve Francis, who had been struggling all night like he has all season, hit a 3-pointer. Then Maurice Taylor hit a jumper, and then Cuttino Mobley hit a 3-pointer, and just like that the Rockets were up by one, 79-78.
Francis then hit a couple of shots to extend the lead to 83-78 to complete a 12-0 run, and with a little luck for the Rockets, the Cavaliers missed two out of 4 free throws. Taylor then hit another jumper, and Francis surprisingly made four free throw attempts in a row to seal the victory, 89-85. But before Rocket fans get too excited, one must remember the Cavaliers' record is 6-18 for a reason. They started the game horribly, shooting only 23% in the first quarter. They were like the Eastern Conference version of the Rockets there for awhile. The Rockets led 17-5 at one point, paced by Yao Ming hitting 4-of-5 shots, but in actuality the Rocket lead should have been much larger. Since the Rockets did not go for the jugular early, the Cavaliers made a run and eventually took the lead 32-30. What was crazy was that the Cavaliers made their run with three bench players who just joined the team the day before via a trade with Boston. Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown and Eric Williams outscored Houston's bench 21-8 in the first half, and they hardly knew any of coach Paul Silas' plays. But Houston eventually got great production from bench players Eric Piatkowski (4-for-6, 10 points) and Taylor (6-for-12, 14 points). But every Rocket hit a dry spell at the start of the fourth quarter when they hit only 1-of-10 shots to fall behind by 7 points until Francis (6-for-18, 18 points), Mobley and Taylor pulled the game out in the end. Yao had a very efficient night, hitting 6-of-8 shots for 12 points, along with three blocks. He also had two huge rebounds in the game's final two minutes. The impact of those boards don't show up in the box score. Almost on cue after my unconventional suggestion on Tuesday after the Minnesota game that Yao should take more shots from the outside, Yao did just that (check out the shot chart below) and it paid immediate dividends as predicted. Taking nothing away from Yao's shooting ability, it's pretty sad when your center is arguably the best shooter on the team (right up there with Cuttino). So we say exploit that strength, and that will make it even harder for defenses to guard him. It will give the opposition one more thiing to think about when trying to defend him. Yao's three blocks also represented better anticipation on defense for him, and two of those blocks came against the 7'3" Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Yao did get in foul trouble (4 fouls) that made him a non-factor in the fourth quarter, although it can be argued he could have gotten more touches of the rock before Francis decided to finally make some shots. But once Francis made his first 3-pointer to start the 12-0 run, you knew Francis was going to try to take over. Luckily for him, this time it worked out. This was our first chance to see Lebron play an entire game, and yes, we were impressed. Although he didn't match his amazing averages from the past four games (26.3 points, 49% FGs, 86% FTs), he showed an ability to hit big shots (2-for-4 from the three-point line) and finished with 17 points. Next up The Rockets next play the LA Clippers in Houston on Friday. Don't think this game is a gimme. The Clippers have won four games in a row, and have Elton Brand back. It will be interesting to see if Clipper coach Mike Dunleavy, who really wanted the Houston head coaching job before Jeff Van Gundy got it, will be pulling out all the stops to beat his former team and desired coaching destination. |
| 1st quarter | ||
| 11:24 |  |
Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane, and is guarded one-on-one by Cleveland's 7'3" center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Yao crouches like he is going to make a move into the lane, but then he takes a step back and launches a fallaway jumper. The ball hits the front rim, then the backboard, then the front rim again, then falls through for the bucket! Yao has the "shooter's touch" tonight! He is now 1-for-1 from the field with two points. The score is tied 2-2. |
| 10:55 |  |
From almost the exact same spot, Yao spots up and shoots a jumper over Ilgauskas, and it swishes through the net for the score! For the second straight night, Yao shoots on the first two Rocket possessions of the game, and tonight he scores on both. It looks like the Rockets are either intentionally trying to get Yao going offensively early, or he is being more assertive realizing he needs to take more shots. The Rockets lead 4-2. Yao is 2-for-2 from the field with 4 points. |
| 10:36 |  |
Cleveland's Ilgauskas, a good offensive center, has the ball down low along the baseline about 3 feet from the basket. As he goes up to shoot a little jumper, Yao is right there with him and blocks his shot! |
| 9:07 |  |
Yao gets the ball a couple of feet outside the right edge of the lane, and is guarded by Ilgauskas. Yao quickly faces up, then dribbles once toward the baseline and gets by Ilgauskas in the process. Yao hesitates, pump fakes -- which gets Ilgauskas into the air -- then jumps, leans and hangs in mid-air before releasing a little bank shot off the glass which goes in! What a beautiful move! That's Yao's third straight field goal. He is now 3-for-3 with 6 points. The Rockets lead 6-4. |
| 6:52 |  |
Yao missed a point-blank layup, and Carlos Boozer gets the rebound. There is no question--Yao should have dunked that ball. He hasn't blown a layup like that in a long time! Yao is now 3-for-4 from the field with 6 points. |
| 5:48 |  |
Ilgauskas gets the ball on the right edge of the lane and pivots toward the baseline on Yao. Ilgauskas elevates and attempts a jump hook with the right hand, but Yao blocks it again, this time right to Francis who starts a fast break the other way! Ilgauskas must not be accustomed to someone who is taller than him since that's the second shot he has had blocked in 5 minutes of play! |
| 4:37 |  |
Yao gets the ball a couple of feet outside the right edge of the lane with Ilgauskas guarding him one-on-one. Yao then just faces up to the basket, launches a jumper, and SCORE IT! Yao is now 4-for-5 from the field with 8 points. The Rockets are on a 13-1 run, and they lead 17-5 (the lead should be larger if it wasn't for bad shot selection by Francis and Jim Jackson). |
| 3:58 | Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. Houston leads 17-5. | |
| 2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 21-13. Houston shot 48% in the first quarter to Cleveland's 23%. Houston also had 4 blocks (two by Yao) to Cleveland's 1. Yao is 4-for-5 from the field with 8 points. Yao | ||
| 9:22 |  |
The Rockets lead 26-19. Yao misses a long jumper from near the three-point line, his first long-range miss of the game. Yao is 4-for-6 from the field with 8 points. |
| 3:49 |  |
After the Cavaliers have gone on a big run, Mobley has the basketball at the top of the key. Yao sets a pick for him, then breaks away a few feet. Mobley then passes the ball to Yao, who is all by himself just to the right of the key. Yao squares up, launches a long-range 19-foot jumper, AND IT RIPS THE CORDS! THE CLEVELAND CROWD GASPS IN AMAZEMENT! I LOVE WHEN YAO SHOCKS CROWDS ON THE ROAD WITH HIS LONG-RANGE SHOOTING ABILITY!
It looks like the Rockets may have read my analysis yesterday saying that Yao should shoot more jumpers from the outside because he is so accurate from there, and he is certainly proving that tonight! He is now 5-for-7 from the field and the Rockets have tied the score at 32-32. Cleveland TV analyst and former NBA coach Matt Goukas exclaims, "I didn't know he had quite THAT range, but boy, everything that has left his hand from the perimeter is looking good." |
| 2:36 | Yao checks out of the game for Scott Padgett before Ilgauskas shoots two free throws. After Ilgauskas makes one of them, the Rockets trail 32-35. Yao is 5-for-7 from the field with 10 points. | |
| Halftime - The Rockets have a small lead 38-37 after having a 12-point lead in the first quarter. Although they are shooting 43% at the half, the Rockets are only 1-for-10 from three-point range (4 misses by Jackson), and are being outscored 8-1 in second chance points. The Cavaliers' new players acquired a couple of days ago in the Boston trade (Eric Williams, Kedrick Brown and Tony Battie) are making a big difference, helping bring the Cavs back from that 12-point deficit and outscoring Houston's bench 21-8 by halftime. | ||
| 3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter. | ||
| 10:29 |  |
Ilgauskas is fronting Yao along the left edge of the lane, and Francis throws a perfect pass over Ilgauskas to Yao, who brings it in, immediately turns, and with Kedrick Brown converging on him from the weak side, leaps toward the basket and finger rolls it in the basket for the score! Ilgauskas must have thought there was defensive help on the backside of Yao because this was too easy of a score. Yao is now 6-for-8 from the field with 12 points. The Rockets lead 42-40. |
| 9:14 |  |
The Cavaliers' Kedrick Brown drives the left baseline, stops just to the left of the basket and pops a little jumper, but Yao is there the entire way and blocks it easily! Yao grabs the rebound and outlets the pass to Francis, who drives it up the floor and throws a 35-foot pass while on the run to Cato, who catches it at the rim and jams it home for the alley-oop dunk! We haven't seen that in awhile. We love those alley-oops since they are spectacular and very high-percentage shots! The Rockets leads 46-42. |
| 8:11 | Yao fouls Ilgauskas for his fourth foul, so he checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. The Rockets lead only by one point, 48-47. | |
| 4th quarter - Houston still only holds a one-point lead, 67-66. | ||
| 9:04 | Yao checks back into the game for Maurice Taylor. The score is tied 69-69. The Cavaliers commence to outscore the Rockets 9-2 to take a 78-71 lead, but the Rockets respond with a 12-0 starting with 5:21 remaining. Yao does not take a shot the rest of the way, but Francis, Mobley and Taylor responded well to put the game away. However, Yao did grab a key defensive and offensive rebound to keep the ball from falling into Cavalier hands, which could have threatened the Rockets chances of victory in this very tight ballgame. | |
| 0:00 | After the clock ticks to zero and the Rockets win 89-85, Yao claps his hands high in front of his face in rapid succession. He is obviously excited the Rockets won! He finished with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. | |
Back to Home