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Yao tries to guard the Hawks' Shareef Abdur-Rahim on Saturday night in Atlanta. Yao had a poor showing offensively -- 7 points on 2-of-11 shooting. However, the Rockets overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Hawks 86-77. (Photo courtesy AP).

1st quarter
11:44	Assist	Standing just beyond the free throw line, Yao throws a perfect over-the-head pass to Cato, who catches it like a wide receiver over his shoulder in front of the basket, and then goes up for a powerful SLAM DUNK, and he flares his legs while he hangs briefly on the rim! Gorgeous pass by Yao and nice finish by Cato on the high-low play! The Rockets lead 2-0.
11:19		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane, and he shoots over Theo Ratliff one of those right-handed hook shots that was so deadly the previous night against the Chicago Bulls. The ball goes into the basket, but then rims out! Yao can't get much closer to having a bucket than that! He is 0-for-1 from the field.
10:51	Good Defense	Theo Ratliff drives to the hole on Yao, but Yao is able to keep in front of Ratliff and make him double-pump his shot unexpectedly. Yao is almost able to block it, and makes Ratliff alter the shot and miss badly. Good 'D' by Yao!
8:00		Steve Francis passes the ball to Yao along the left edge of the lane as he's moving toward the basket with Nazr Mohammed behind him. Yao puts a shot off the glass about four feet from the rim, which misses. But Yao easily grabs the rebound over the much shorter Mohammed (6'10") and goes right back up and lays it in! Mohammed had no chance against Yao on that one. Yao is now 1-for-4 from the field with 2 points. The Rockets lead 10-4.
6:41		Francis throws the ball to Yao at the left edge of the lane with Theo Ratliff guarding him, and Yao fakes like he's going to pivot toward the baseline, but then quickly shifts directions and whirls into the lane and puts up an 8-foot right-handed jump hook...AND COUNT IT! That play reminds me so much of Hakeem Olajuwon's patented Dream Shake move! Surprisingly the Atlanta crowd cheers loudly for Yao's bucket, probably because there are lots of Yao fans at Philips Arena tonight because it's "Asian-American Night." Yao is now 2-for-5 from the field with 4 points, and the Rockets lead 12-6.
3:53		Yao checks out of the game for Clarence Weatherspoon with 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field. The Rockets lead 18-12.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 26-20. Cato has 7 points, Maurice Taylor scored 6 points in a 4-minute stretch and is looking real good with his right-handed hook shot, and Yao has 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting.
10:19		Yao checks back into the game for Clarence Weatherspoon. The Rockets lead 26-24.
10:01		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane, and he immediately goes up with that reliable right-handed hook shot of his over Nazr Mohammed, but he misses once again. He is now 2-for-6 from the field with 4 points, and the Rockets lead 26-24.
8:50		With the ball on the left edge of the lane, Yao pivots baseline on Mohammed and shoots a fadeaway shot (but seemed to fade away much more than usual), and he misses short. Yao is now 2-for-7 from the field with 4 points. Houston leads 28-26.
3:05		Yao checks out of the game for Kelvin Cato. The Rockets lead 36-34. Yao is 2-for-7 from the field with 4 points.
1:13		Yao checks into the game for Maurice Taylor. The Rockets trail 38-39.
:21		Shareef Abdur-Rahim drives to the bucket on Yao along the baseline, and Yao holds his arms up to contest the shot, and the shot goes awry. Yao may have actually fouled Abdur-Rahim, but the refs didn't call it. In fact, the official scorer gives Yao a block because they must have thought, from a distance, that Yao must have blocked that shot if the refs didn't call a foul.
Halftime - At the end of the second quarter, the Rockets trail 38-41. The Rockets were outscored 21-12 in the second quarter and only shot 5-for-16 from the field, but Atlanta didn't do much better with 6-for-18 shooting.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
10:06	Assist	Yao gets the ball down low on the left edge of the paint, and he waits for the defense to double-team him, then he throws the ball out to the three-point line where Jim Jackson is standing, and Jackson buries the trey! That's Yao's second assist of the game! The Rockets trail 43-46.
8:36		Yao shoots a fallaway jumper from the middle of the lane about 10 feet away from the hoop, and it misses. He is now 2-for-8 from the field with 4 points.
7:49		Yao shoots a jumper from the right side of the court and misses again. Although he has now missed 4 shots in a row and is 2-for-9 from the field with 4 points, we like how Yao is not getting bashful and is continuing to shoot. The Rockets are behind 46-48.
3:45		Yao checks into the game for Kelvin Cato. The Rockets trail 48-54.
3:40		Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane and spins into the lane and puts up a right-handed jump hook, but he misses again. And it's not because the defense is double-teaming him or anything. He's just missing them. He is now 2-for-10 from the field. The Rockets trail 48-54.
3:05	Free Throws	Francis drives into the lane and dishes off to Yao who is standing on the right edge, but moving toward the basket. Yao goes up for a layup and is fouled, then goes to the line and makes both free throws. He is now 2-for-2 from the line and 2-of-10 from the field with 6 points. The Rockets trail 50-54.
4th quarter - At the end of three quarters, the Rockets trail 51-62 after missing their last 8 shots (3-for-12 overall in the quarter) and Atlanta finished the quarter on a 19-4 run. The Rockets followed up their 12-point second quarter with a pathetic 13-point third quarter.
11:40		Yao gets the ball just a couple of feet outside the left edge of the lane. He dribbles once, then spins quickly toward the baseline on Nazr Mohammed, leaving him out of position. Yao then shoots a jumper off the glass that JUST misses! He is now 2-for-11 from the field with 6 points. The Rockets trail 51-62.
10:59	Free Throws	Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane. He bounces the ball once to establish position, then spins baseline quickly on Mohammed and shoots a right-handed hook shot, but Stephen Jackson is called for a foul after coming behind him and trying to block his shot. Yao goes to the line and makes the first free throw, but misses the second. The Rockets trail by 12 points, 52-64. A few seconds later after Abdur-Rahim makes two free throws, the Rockets trail by 14 points, 52-66. The Rockets need every point they can get to have a chance of pulling this game out.
10:13	Jackson 3-pointer	Jim Jackson nails a three-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer! The Rockets trail 66-55.
9:04		Yao checks out of the game for Clarence Weatherspoon, and the Rockets decide to go "small" to try to get back into this game. The Rockets trail by 13 points, 55-68. Yao does not return to the game. He finishes with 7 points on 2-of-11 shooting and 3-for-4 from the line. He also had 9 rebounds and 1 block. The remainder of the description below outlines the Rockets' comeback victory, which we'll entitle the "Detailed HOW Analysis," as in HOW the Rockets made their stunning comeback.
8:24		Francis makes only one of two free throws. The Rockets cannot afford to miss free throws right now! They now trail 56-68.
7:51		After Atlanta's Dion Glover misses a baseline jumper, Cuttino Mobley scores a three-pointer. The Rockets trail 59-68. That's Mobley's first points since the first quarter. He now has 5 points.
7:28		After Shareef Abdur-Rahim misses a jumper, Francis throws a 50-foot pass to Jim Jackson on the right side of the court, and Jackson nails the jumper! The Rockets now trail 61-68, and Jackson has 12 points.
7:28		After Abdur-Rahim banks a shot off the glass to put Atlanta up 70-61, Francis gets fouled and goes to the line and makes only one of two free throws. The Rockets now trail 62-70, and Francis has 18 points.
5:38		Abdur-Rahim misses another jumper, Maurice Taylor misses a jumper, and Atlanta's Jason Terry shot is partially blocked by Francis. Cuttino Mobley is fouled penetrating the lane, and he steps to the line and makes both free throws to bring Houston to 64-70. Mobley has 7 points.
5:00		After Jason Terry shoots an airball and the 24-second clock expires, Houston's Mobley nails another three-pointer! Mobley is starting to heat up with 10 points (8 in the quarter), and the Rockets now only trail 67-70!
4:29		The Rockets defense clamps down and makes the Hawks violate the 24-second clock for the second consecutive possession. A timeout is called by Atlanta, and the entire Rockets' bench is on their feet to greet the starters back to the bench during the timeout. They are feeling something special is happening!
3:39		The Rockets get called for a three-second violation and turn the ball over. Atlanta's Jason Terry responds by also turning the ball over, and Mobley ends up hitting another three-pointer to tie the game at 70-70! What a comeback! They have cut a 14-point deficit down to a tie game in about seven minutes of action! Again, the Rockets bench is on their feet full of excitement, including Yao who has his arms raised! Mobley has 3 treys in the quarter, and 11 points in the quarter.
3:05		Clarence Weatherspoon hits a jumper from the top of the key! What a surprise! He puts the Rockets ahead 72-70 for his first points of the game! The Rockets are on a 17-2 run!
2:50		The Hawks' Stephen Jackson is fouled, and he goes to the line to shoot free throws, BUT HE MISSES BOTH OF THEM! The Rockets still lead 72-70.
2:06		Stephen Jackson shoots a three-pointer, BUT IT'S BLOCKED BY MOBLEY! Francis grabs the loose ball and starts dribbling it up the court, but Jackson gets in Francis' way and Jackson is called for the foul. So Francis goes to the line and makes both free throws to put the Rockets ahead 74-70. The Hawks have not scored now in 14 of their last 15 possessions.
1:46		The Rockets play good defense defending Abdur-Rahim, who shoots an airball, and the Rockets gain possession.
1:07		After Jason Terry shoots a three-pointer that misses, Abdur-Rahim grabs the rebound to the side of the rim, BUT MOBLEY STEALS IT FROM HIM AND DRIBBLES COAST-TO-COAST ALL BY HIMSELF FOR A DRIVING LAYUP! WE HAVEN'T SEEN A COAST-TO-COAST FROM A ROCKET PLAYER IN AGES! (We wonder if Van Gundy approved of Mobley taking over like that?) The Rockets now lead 76-70, and the Hawks call timeout, and the entire Houston bench (including Yao) is up to greet their guys coming off the floor!
:32		After Abdur-Rahim breaks the Hawks' cold spell and scores on a dunk, the Hawks trail 72-76. Francis then has the ball on the ensuing possession for the Rockets, dribbles the entire possession, then shoots a jumper at the top of the key and makes it! The Rockets lead 78-72, but Francis pulls his jersey down below his left pectoral muscle in celebration, a la Janet Jackson during the Super Bowl halftime show. Whatever. The rest of the game basically turns into a free throw shooting exercise, and the Rockets made all of their free throws to seal the victory 86-77! Despite not playing that well, you can tell by Yao's smiling that he is extemely jubilant the Rockets pulled this game out!