YaoMingMania.com

The meeting of the Number 1's: Yao and LeBron shake hands before the Houston-Cleveland game on Wednesday night. Yao scored 17 points on 7-of-18 shots, had 8 rebounds and 2 blocks as the Rockets held off the Cavaliers 90-84. Lebron scored 11 points on 5-of-18 shooting. To see photos from the game, click here for the topic in the YaoMingMania.com discussion forum. (Photo courtesy AP).

1st quarter
11:42		Yao misses a right-handed hook shot from the right edge of the lane.
11:15	Assist	Yao gets the ball a couple of feet outside the left edge of the lane. Guarded one-on-one by Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Yao faces up to the basket, BUT THEN BOUNCES A PERFECT BOUNCE PASS TO JIM JACKSON WHO IS CUTTING DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE. Jackson catches the dish and goes in for a layup! That's Yao's first assist of the game.
9:09		Zydrunas Ilgauskas shows some nice offensive moves by driving in from outside the left elbow of the lane, then spins on Yao and gets to the hoop along the left side of the lane, BUT YAO IS ABLE TO GET A HAND ON ILGAUSKAS' SHOT ATTEMPT TO MAKE HIM MISS BADLY! As quick as "Z" is with this footwork, Yao's length allows him to recover and block shots because of his height!
8:58		Yao misses a layup attempt from the left baseline over Ilgauskas, but Igauskas is a long dude who can cause problems for anyone.
6:59		Yao gets the ball along the left edge of the lane, then pivots baseline and shoots a fadeaway jumper over Ilgauskas along the left baseline and IT HITS NOTHIN' BUT THE BOTTOM OF THE NET! Yao has two points on 1-of-3 shooting. The Rockets lead 11-4.
5:51		Cuttino Mobley has the ball in the right corner of the court, and Yao is being fronted by Ilgauskas, but Mobley doesn't throw him the ball. If Mobley passed the ball to Yao at the right time, Yao would have had a clear lane to the basket and an easy dunk. But Mobley decides not to pass it during that one-second timeframe, which prompts ESPN analyst Bill Walton to say, "How can you not get Yao the ball when he is fronted like that?"
5:05		Yao checks out of the game Maurice Taylor. The Rockets lead 11-8.
:07		Yao checks into the game for Clarence Weatherspoon. The Rockets lead 18-16.
:02		Yao misses a jumper from the right baseline. He is now 1-for-4 from the floor with two points.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 18-16. Houston has only shot 8-of-23 from the floor, but Cleveland was actually worse (7-of-23). Cuttino Mobley has 7 points, and Lebron James is 0-for-3 with no points.
11:31		Yao misses a right-handed jump hook from the right baseline along the right edge of the lane. Yao is now 1-for-5 from the field.
10:59		On a pick-and-roll, Jim Jackson gets around Yao's pick on the left side of the court, then penetrates into the lane and sees Yao on the left side of the court all alone. Jackson sees Yao open and whips an underhanded pass to Yao on the baseline, and Yao catches it AND GOES IN FOR THE RIGHT-HANDED JAM with Ilgauskas trailing behind him! Yao is now 2-for-6 from the field with 4 points. The Rox lead 20-18.
10:05		Yao misses short an 8-foot fallaway jumper from the left baseline. He is now 2-for-7 from the field with 4 points.
9:09		Yao misses another 8-foot fallaway jumper from the left baseline. He is now 2-for-8 from the field with 4 points. This is very unusual he has been missing so many shots. The Rockets lead 25-22.
8:35	Free Throws	Yao is fouled by Ilgauskas while shooting in the lane. Yao goes to the line and makes the first free throw, but misses the second. He now has 5 points, and is 2-for-8 from the field and 1-for-2 from the line.
5:59		Kevin Ollie grabs an offensive rebound to the right of the Cleveland rim, then dribbles out of the lane and comes back in again, then decides for some reason to put up a little baby hook shot over Yao, AND YAO BLOCKS IT EASILY, AND AS THE BALL IS LOOSE IN MID-AIR, SLAPS DOWN ON IT AGAIN TO CLEAR IT AWAY FROM THE AREA TO ERIC PIATKOWSKI, WHO DRIBBLES THE BALL DOWN COURT ON A FAST BREAK AND SCORES ON A PULL-UP JUMPER! That was a total "face job" on Ollie. Don't know why Ollie would try to challenge Yao! The Rockets now lead 33-25.
5:36		Steve Francis checks into the game for Yao. Yao is 2-for-8 from the field with 5 points. The Rockets lead 33-25.
4:02		Yao checks back into the game for Maurice Taylor.
2:45		Steve Francis penetrates into the lane from the free throw line area, and whips a pass to Yao on the left side of the court who is all by himself. Yao shoots a jumper but misses. Bill Walton comments, "That was a great pass by Steve Francis. You get more of that, and this team will definitely have a brighter future." Yao is now 2-for-9 from the field with 5 points. The Rockets still lead 37-31.
1:44		Yao reaches back for an offensive rebound, loses his balance, AND FALLS TO THE COURT WITH A THUD ON HIS LEFT ELBOW! Yao is crumpled on the floor and shaken up for a bit. The Rockets call timeout as he is on the floor in pain. However, after the timeout, it looks like Yao is okay. But it was a little scary there for a minute.
Halftime - At the end of the second quarter, the Rockets lead 39-33. Yao was 1-for-5 in the quarter. Cuttino Mobley scored 7 points in the first and second quarters for a total of 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Lebron is 1-for-6 from the field with 2 points, and the Cavs are 14-for-44 from the field (32%) and the Rockets are 39% from the floor. However, Houston has got its fast break going, outscoring the Cavs 11-2 on the break.
10:22		Yao misses a 9-foot fallaway jumper in the lane over Ilgauskas, whose height and extension is forcing Yao to shoot his shots with a higher trajectory. Yao is now 2-for-10 from the field with 5 points. The game is tied 41-41.
9:18		Yao grabs a rebound underneath the Houston basket and goes up for a layup, but the ball slips out of his hands and he loses possession of it! This is just not Yao's night so far! He is 2-for-11 from the floor with 5 points. For some reason, the official scorer gave LeBron credit for a block, but the replay clearly shows that Yao just lost it.
7:56		Surrounded by two defenders (one being Ilgauskas), Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane, turns, elevates and puts a shot off the glass for the score! That breaks a string of 5 missed shots in a row! The Rockets trail 48-50, and Yao is 3-for-12 from the field with 7 points.
7:18		Yao gets the ball along the left edge of the lane guarded only by Ilgauskas, then spins toward the baseline and shoots a fadeaway jumper and SWISH! The Toyota Center goes crazy on Yao tying the score at 50-50! Yao is now 4-for-13 from the field with 9 points. As he is running back up the court, though, he is seen saying a few words to the ref because he thought Ilgauskas fouled him.
6:35	Free Throws	Yao gets the ball down low against Ilgauskas, and Yao is able to bull his way closer to the rim and put up a shot, but Ilgauskas fouls him on the arm and throws Yao off balance. As he is falling back, his left arm grazes Ilgauskas' face, and Ilgauskas takes exception and lightly shoves Yao in the chest! All the players on the court converge on the situation as Yao is saying something like, "C'mon, what are you doing?" Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws to put the Rockets ahead 51-50. Yao has 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the line and 4-of-13 from the field.
5:58		After picking up his fourth personal foul, Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. The Rockets lead 51-50.
4th quarter - At the end of three quarters, Cleveland leads 61-60 after outscoring Houston 28-21 in the quarter. The Cavs made 12-of-25 field goals, whereas Houston only made 7-of-17. LeBron scored 9 points in the quarter and is 5-of-16 from the floor. Yao has 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
8:00		Yao checks into the game for Cuttino Mobley. Houston leads 68-67.
7:35		Yao misses a right-handed jump hook in the lane. He is now 4-for-14 from the field with 11 points. The Rockets lead 68-67.
5:56		Francis penetrates to the hole, then kicks it back out to Yao who is standing at the top of the key. Yao squares up and launches a 20-foot jumper and DRILLS IT! THE HOUSTON CROWD LOVES IT AS THE ROCKETS TAKE A 72-67 LEAD! The Rockets are starting to move the basketball, too, with 4 assists on their last 5 baskets. Yao is 5-for-15 from the field with 13 points.
5:07		Yao shoots a fadeaway jumper over Ilgauskas in the lane, and he misses short, BUT CLARENCE WEATHERSPOON CATCHES THE BALL UNDER THE BASKET AND LAYS IT IN! The Rockets now lead 74-70. Yao missed that shot either because Ilgauskas' height is still causing a little bit of a problem for him, or because Ilgauskas was able to get a finger on the ball. The official scorer actually gave Ilgauskas credit for a block on that play, which is debatable. Yao is now 5-for-16 from the field with 13 points.
4:21		Yao shoots a fallaway jumper over Ilgauskas in the lane and the ball bounces around on the rim a couple of times and falls through! After the ball drops, Yao clutches his right fist! He is really into this game now, and is 6-for-17 from the field with 15 points. The Rockets lead 76-70.
2:15		With the Rockets up 81-74, LeBron James dribbles into the lane and puts up a shot, BUT YAO COMES OVER FROM THE LEFT SIDE OF THE COURT AND BLOCKS 'BRON'S SHOT AWAY EMPHATICALLY! Unfortunately Carlos Boozer grabs the loose ball and hooks the shot in for the bucket! The Rockets lead 81-76.
:42		With the Rockets leading 83-79, Mobley overpowers his man and gets into the lane, which draws Ilgauskas over to Mobley to help out. However, this leaves Yao all alone underneath the basket, AND MOBLEY GOES UP FOR A SHOT, BUT AT THE TOP OF HIS JUMP ZIPS A PASS TO YAO ON THE RIGHT BASELINE, AND YAO GOES UP FOR A TWO-HANDED JAM! That just about does it! Yao is all smiles heading back up the floor as the Rockets lead 85-79. Yao finishes with 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks! He started off the game slow, but got hot in the fourth quarter by shooting 3-of-5 from the field!