YaoMingMania.com

Yao wards off Kevin Garnett in a Target Center shootout Friday night in Minneapolis where the Rockets shocked Minneota, 112-109. Yao had 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting and was 9-for-9 from the line. To see more photos from the game, click here. (Photo courtesy AP).

1st quarter
11:41	+ Free Throw	On the first possession of the game, Yao gets the ball just a few feet outside the right edge of the lane and dribbles over to the edge with Michael Olowokandi guarding him, then falls away near the right elbow of the lane, releases a jumper over Olowokandi's outstretched hand, and SWISHES IT!! AND HE'S FOULED! Yao pumps his right fist on the AND-1! Yao is 1-for-1 from the field with 3 points. The Rockets lead 3-0.
11:03		Francis draws a double-team as he dribbles toward the basket on the left side of the lane. That leaves Yao open at the free throw line, so Francis whips a pass back to him. Yao bobbles the ball and drops it, which makes an oncoming defender lunge for the ball, which leaves Yao even more open. Yao regains control at the free throw line and launches a high-arching jumper over Olowokandi AND SCORE ANOTHER ONE! Yao is now 2-for-2 from the field with 5 points. The Rockets lead 5-2.
10:13	Intimidation	Kevin Garnett drives around Cato along the baseline and puts up a shot underneath the rim, but YAO COMES OVER TO HELP AND IS THERE TO MAKE HIM ALTER HIS SHOT! The shot misses badly, but Garnett gets the rebound on the other side of the rim and is fouled by Yao. That's Yao's first personal foul.
7:38	Free Throws	Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane with Olowokandi guarding him, and he pivots toward the baseline, pump fakes, and Olowokandi fouls him in the act of shooting. Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws, and the Rockets lead 16-9. Yao has 7 of the Rockets 16 points.
5:15	Free Throws	After a Steve Francis jump shot misses, Yao grabs a rebound underneath the rim and flips it back up and is fouled. Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws, and the Rockets lead 22-11. Yao has 9 points and is 5-for-5 from the line, and is 2-for-2 from the field.
4:26		Yao gets the ball in the middle of the lane, and without hesitation pivots toward the right edge of the lane and puts up a jumper. The ball banks high off the glass, hits the rim, rattles around and DROPS THROUGH! Nice shooter's touch! Yao is now 3-for-3 from the field with 11 points. The Rockets are leading suprisingly 29-16!
3:55		Yao puts up a jumper in the lane over Earvin Johnson and it misses. That's Yao's first miss of the game.
3:47		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. The Rockets lead 29-19. Yao has 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting and is 5-of-5 from the line.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 36-28. That's a season-high for Houston in the first quarter, and ties the most points scored against the Timberwolves in the first quarter this season. Houston is 4-for-5 from behind the arc.
10:11		Yao checks into the game for Clarence Weatherspoon. The Timberwolves have gone on a 6-0 run to close the gap to 34-36.
8:32	Free Throws	Yao gets the ball a couple of feet outside the right edge of the lane, dribbles into the lane away from the basket, puts on a couple of fakes, then spins away from the defense, pump fakes, gets Olowokandi in the air, goes up for a shot, and as Olowokandi comes down, Yao is smart enough to go up for a shot and draw contact from him to draw the foul! Yao had a lot of great fakes on that play! And that's Olowokandi's third foul! Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws. The Rockets lead 42-39.
5:59		Yao goes up for a jump shot from 18 feet out AND DRILLS IT! He now has 15 points, and is 4-for-5 from the field. The Rockets lead 48-45.
5:19		From the middle of the lane, Mo Taylor drops the ball off to Yao along the right baseline. Yao fumbles the pass and has to dribble it to gain possession. He then goes up over Kevin Garnett for a high-arching 7-foot jumper from the right edge of the lane and MAKES IT! Yao is so good at improvising! He now has 17 points, and is 5-for-6 from the field. The Rockets lead 50-48.
2:41		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane with Garnett is guarding him one-on-one. Yao then spins toward the baseline on KG and lofts a wicked fadeaway jumper over him...and BANG! Yao is now 6-for-7 from the field with 19 points, and the Rockets lead 56-55.
2:11		Feelin' his stroke offensively, Yao shoots a jump hook in the lane over Garnett, but the shot is too strong and misses. Yao is now 6-for-8 from the field with 19 points.
2:01		Yao checks out of the game for Kelvin Cato. The Rockets trail 56-57.
:01		Trailing 61-65, Yao checks back into the game for Kelvin Cato for an inbounds play. On the inbounds play, Cuttino Mobley DRAINS A THREE-POINTER AT THE BUZZER! The Rockets now only trail 64-65 heading into halftime.
Halftime - At halftime, the Rockets trail 64-65. Yao has 19 points (the most he has ever had at halftime) and is shooting 6-for-8 from the field. Houston shot 54% from the field (13-for-13 from the line), and Minnesota shot 64%. The Rockets shot 7-for-9 from three-point land, and the Timberwolves shot 5-for-6. The Rockets had 17 assists (they average 18 per game) and Minnesota had 19.
3rd quarter - Analysis will be coming late this evening.
11:21		Maurice Taylor passes the ball to Yao at the left edge of the lane, then turns to the inside of the lane and puts up a jump hook over Olowokandi, but he misses. Yao is now 6-for-9 from the field with 19 points. Houston trails 65-67.
10:56		Yao gets the ball directly in front of the rim with Olowokandi and Garnett surrounding him. Yao then splits between them to get to the left side of the rim, but he banks it too hard off the glass and misses a layup. No doubt Olowokandi's shot-blocking abilities made Yao rush, or alter, that shot. He is now 7-for-10 from the field with 19 points. Houston trails 65-69.
8:43		From behind the three-point line, Jim Jackson throws a pass to Yao on the right edge of the lane, and Yao immediately shoots a 5-foot hook shot over Olowokandi for the score! Yao is now 8-for-11 from the field with 21 points. Houston trails 71-73.
6:28		Yao gets the ball a couple of feet outside the right edge of the lane, faces up on Olowokandi, then fakes left, stops, pivots the other way toward the baseline and puts up a right-handed hook shot over Olowokandi with a flick of the wrist. The result? Rack up another score! Yao is now 9-fof-12 from the field with 23 points, and Houston trails 76-77.
5:26		Yao misses a jump shot from the right side of the court. He is now 9-of-13 from the field with 23 points.
5:25		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. The Rockets trail 76-79.
4th quarter - At the end of the third quarter, the Rockets trail 84-89. The Rockets got outscored in the third quarter 24-20.
9:31		Clarence Weatherspoon is replaced by Yao. Houston trails 91-94.
8:31		From the left baseline, Jim Jackson throws up a running jumper which misses, BUT YAO CRASHES THE BOARDS FROM THE LEFT SIDE AND GRABS THE REBOUND JUST TO THE LEFT OF THE BASKET, THEN GOES UNDERNEATH AND REVERSES IT IN ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BUCKET USING THE THE RIM AS A SHIELD AGAINST GARNETT FROM BLOCKING IT! That was a pretty move by Yao laying it in off the glass while being directly underneath the basket. Great dexterity in spinning that ball just right to go in on the reverse layup Yao is now 10-of-14 from the field with 25 points! The game is tied 96-96.
7:56		On an almost carbon-copy play as the play in the Laker game on Wednesday night, Cuttino Mobley throws a lob toward the rim from the three-point line on the right side of the court, and Francis flies in from the top of the three-point arc to grab it in front of the rim and THROW IT DOWN SPECTACULARLY! I like this new play they have put into the playbook (or brought back from previous years). The Minnesota crowd roars in awe! The Rockets now lead 98-96! This is Houston's first lead since the second quarter!
7:23		Francis whips a pass to Yao at the top of the key, and Yao has a wide-open jumper. Unfortunately, Yao misses. He has been having troubles over the past couple of games trying to hit that shot when he is normally pretty reliable with it. Yao is now 10-of-15 from the field with 25 points. Houston still leads 98-96.
7:07	Intimidation	Olowokandi tries to put a jump shot over Yao, but Yao gets a hand in his face to make him miss.
6:15		Yao misses another jump from almost the same spot as his last attempt, maybe because of fatigue based on what Houston TV analyst Calvin Murphy believes. Yao is now 10-of-16 with 25 points. Houston leads 98-96.
3:55	Intimidation	From the left side of the court, Garnett drives the ball on Yao into the lane, but Yao shows good lateral movement and keeps up with KG. Garnett gets to the middle of the lane and puts up a difficult right-handed hook shot, but Yao is there to jump and provide resistance, and Garnett misses. Yao then tips the rebound away from the rim. Yao's presence is definitely being felt down low tonight! The Rockets lead 104-100.
2:09	Free Throws	Yao tries to post up on the left block on Mark Madsen, but Madsen fouls him from behind. So Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws. He now has 27 points and is 7-for-7 from the line. Houston leads 108-102.
1:37		Leading 108-107, Steve Francis drives down the left side of the lane, which draws 3 defenders to him. He then whips a pass out to Clarence Weatherspoon, who is standing all alone at the top of the key. 'Spoon then calmly steps up and DRILLS A HUGE JUMP SHOT! Clarence can shoot! The Rockets now lead 110-107.
1:04		From the right side of the court, Mobley drives to the bucket and gets into the lane where he is able to dish it off to Yao for great field position, but Yao is not able to hold on to the pass, and the Rockets turn it over during a crucial part of the game leading 110-107! That's very rare for Yao to not have good hands on a play like that! But Yao makes up for it on the other end when Latrell Sprewell gets by his man on the right baseline and puts up a shot--YAO COMES OVER TO REALLY MAKE SPREWELL ALTER THE TRAJECTORY OF HIS SHOT, AND THE SHOT IS AN AIRBALL! Weatherspoon grabs the rebound and is fouled by Garnett! Clarence goes to the line and makes both free throws, and the Rockets lead 112-107.
:08		With the Rockets up 112-109, Yao checks out of the game for Adrian Griffin so they can have players who can guard the perimeter and three-point shots. Troy Hudson launches a three-pointer and misses, and Griffin grabs the rebound and is fouled. Yao is all smiles on the bench and is seen patting assistant coach Patrick Ewing on the shoulders. Ewing responds by putting his fist out to Yao, and Yao bops fists with Ewing. However, Griffin goes to the line and misses both free throws! Oh no! That gives Minnesota a chance to tie it once again! It's questionable if Yao should have been taken out of the game on this possession, though. He is a great rebounder, and if he had been fouled, you know he would have made at least one of those free throws!
:00		With a second-chance to tie the game, Garnett gets the ball at the top of the three-point line, and Weatherspoon comes out to guard him. Garnett then shoots a three-pointer that badly misses, and the Rockets win 112-109! Yao finishes as game MVP, scoring 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, and 9-of-9 from the line!