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Yao vs. Nets - 1/31/04
 Yao gets fouled by the Nets' Aaron Williams in Houston on Saturday. The Rockets blew another game in front of a Super-sized crowd at Toyota Center and lost their third straight, 88-77. Yao scored 9 points on 2-of-9 shooting in 29 minutes of play. (Photo courtesy of AP). |
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SATURDAY, 1/31/04 - With many celebrities in attendance like Adam Sandler, P Diddy, Jeff Gordon, Serena Williams, and Yanni (among others), the Rockets had a chance to gain some new high-profile fans as they played the defending Eastern Conference champions New Jersey Nets at home. Oh yeah, Toyota Center -- with it's largest crowd ever (18,332) -- probably had some new lower-profile people in attendance who could be turned into fans.
After the first half, things were looking good for the Rockets as they held a 43-37 halftime lead. But Houston got outplayed and outscored in the second half 51-31 to lose their third straight game 77-88. Of course, Houston's inability of not being able to play in pressure situations was on display again. They turned the ball over too many times, and just didn't play with much passion when it counted. Coach Jeff Van Gundy had the most poignant quote about why his team lost: "We lost heart in the third quarter when it didn't go well. Instead of fighting, we lost a lot of heart." After holding their 9-point halftime lead, Houston turned the ball over 4 times in the first four minutes of the third quarter to let the Nets get back into it. It was a close game from that point forward. That is, until about the 6-minute mark of the fourth quarter with the Nets leading 74-73. Over the next four minutes of play, the Nets outscored the Rockets 12-2. During that stretch, the Rockets only made 1-of-9 shots and turned the ball over on a key possession. Meanwhile, the Nets made 4 free throws, and executed a beautiful alley-oop from Kidd to Richard Jefferson. Kidd also caught the Houston defense napping by breaking through the defense and tipping in an offensive rebound. That's all it took for the Nets, who have been struggling themselves this season during the fourth quarter, to put Houston away. Steve Francis bounced back from a pitiful performance on Wednesday against Sacramento (3-of-17 from the field) by scoring 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and 7 assists. But he did turn the ball over four times, twice on terrible passes to Yao while he was posting up. After seeing those plays, you had to think about Francis' backup, Mark Jackson, who has been feeding the ball to Yao more reliably. Not to say Yao doesn't deserve some of the fault for this loss. Yao's 2-for-9 shooting came as a surprise, and his 9 points and 6 boards were not nearly enough to carry the Rockets to victory. This kind of performance from Yao is an anomaly, and we think he will come back strong Monday night in Phoenix when the Rockets take on the Suns. Even better numbers for Yao On the bright side, you probably heard by now that Yao was voted the starting center for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star game. And he did it LEGITIMATELY. Shaq actually received more online votes than Yao, putting to rest that Internet voting gave Yao an advantage because of the tremendous number of Chinese on the Internet. The difference was in paper balloting, where Yao received 243,184 votes to 207,558 for O'Neal. And as I write this, Yao is ranked statistically as the #1 center in the NBA by CBS.Sportsline.com. Check it out. Now it's time to take a day of rest and watch the city of Houston enjoy one of its rare moments in the world spotlight during Super Bowl Sunday. Let's hope it's much more memorable than Saturday's Rocket game. |
| 1st quarter | ||
| 10:31 |  |
Yao misses a jumper along the left baseline. |
| 1:47 | Yao checks out of the game for Kelvin Cato. Yao is 0-for-1 from the field with 3 rebounds. The Rockets lead 21-14. | |
| 2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 25-17. The Rockets shot 69% (11-of-16) and the Nets 38% (6-of-16). Steve Francis is shooting better than he did during Wednesday night's 3-for-17 performance, and is now 4-of-5 in the first quarter with 10 points. Yao does not start the quarter. | ||
| 6:44 | Yao checks back into the game. The Rockets lead 31-26, however they haven't scored in almost 4 minutes. | |
| 6:27 |  |
Yao misses a fallaway jumper from the right side of the court. He is now 0-for-2 from the field. |
| 5:00 | Free Throws |
Maurice Taylor throws the ball perfectly to Yao, who is in front of the basket. Yao quickly goes up for a layup on the left side of the rim, but Aaron Williams fouls him from behind (see photo above). Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws. He is now 2-for-2 from the line and 0-for-2 from the field with 2 points. The Rockets lead 35-26. |
| 3:05 |  |
Yao misses a bank shot along the right edge of the lane. He is now 0-for-3 from the field with 2 points. |
| :22.9 | Free Throws |
As Mark Jackson passes the ball to him, Yao gets fouled jockeying for position in the paint by Jason Collins. Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws. He now has 4 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the line. The Rockets lead 46-35. |
| :19.3 | Yao checks out of the game for Mike Wilks. | |
| Halftime - At the end of the second quarter, the Rockets lead 46-37. The Rockets backcourt scored 25 points in the first half, with Cuttino Mobley scoring 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting, and Francis scoring 12 points (5-of-8). The Rockets shot 53% from the field, including 4-of-6 three-pointers. The Nets shot 40% from the field, with Jason Kidd shooting only 3-of-10. Two of Francis' 6 assists came from great alley-oop passes to Kelvin Cato in the half to ignite the Houston crowd.
Yao has 4 points on 0-of-3 shooting from the field, but is 4-for-4 from the line and has 4 rebounds. |
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| 3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter. At the start of the third quarter, the Rockets turn the ball over 4 times in the first four minutes and don't score. As a result, the Nets close the deficit to 46-45. | ||
| 7:51 |  |
From the top of the key, Maurice Taylor passes the ball to Yao in the middle of the paint, and is guarded one-on-one by the much smaller Jason Collins (7 feet tall). So Yao just elevates and shoots a right-handed hook shot from 5 feet....and SCORE IT! Yao breaks the Rockets' cold spell in the second half, and scores his first field goal! He is now 1-for-4 from the field with 6 points. The Rockets lead 48-45. |
| 7:09 |  |
Yao shoots a jumper from the top of the key and misses. He is now 1-for-5 from the field, and the Rockets lead 48-47. |
| 6:19 | Free Throws |
Yao works hard to grab an offensive rebound over Jason Collins and Kenyon Martin to the right of the basket. Yao then brings it down and goes up for a put-back attempt, but he's fouled. He goes to the line and misses the first free throw, but makes the second. He now has 7 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the line. The game is now tied at 49-49. |
| 5:16 |  |
Kenyon Martin puts up a jump hook in the lane, but Yao blocks it! Jim Jackson picks up the loose ball and the Rockets score in transition. The Rockets now lead 53-51. |
| 3:55 |  |
Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane and wheels into the middle of the lane and puts up a leaning right-handed hook shot that misses. This shot was not the typical kind of shot we see from Yao. He seemed to rush it. Nets TV analyst Kelly Tripucka comments, "Yao is not getting himself settled. He's off-balance alot of times when he is shooting the basketball." Yao is now 1-of-6 from the field with 6 points. Houston leads 53-51. |
| 3:45 | Yao checks out of the game for Kelvin Cato. Houston trails 52-53. | |
| 4th quarter - At the end of three quarters, the Rockets trail 60-66 after getting outscored 29-14 in the third quarter. Houston was 6-of-14 from the field, whereas New Jersey shot 11-of-22. The Nets' Kenyon Martin scored 15 points. | ||
| 7:01 | Yao checks into the game for Kelvin Cato. The Rockets trail 71-72. | |
| 6:53 |  |
Yao misses a long jumper from the top of the key. He is now 1-for-7 from the field. The Rockets trail 71-72. |
| 6:19 |  |
Yao sets a screen for Jim Jackson, then both of them start running toward the basket, with Jackson dribbling along the right edge of the lane and Yao going down the middle of the paint. Jackson then delivers a perfect pass to Yao in front of the rim, AND YAO DUNKS IT HOME TWO-HANDED! That was the best play run for Yao the entire game! He is now 2-for-8 from the field with 9 points. The Rockets trail 73-74. |
| 5:21 |  |
Yao misses a fadeway from the right edge of the lane. He is now 2-for-9 from the field. The Rockets still trail 73-74. |
| 1:34 |
Yao checks out of the game for Scott Padgett. The Rockets trail 75-84. In the previous 4 minutes of play, the Nets outscored the Rockets 10-2 to put the game away.
Yao finished with 9 points on 2-of-9 shooting (5-of-6 from the line), 6 rebounds and 1 block. |
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