YaoMingMania.com

On his most impressive field goal of the game, Yao throws down a dunk in the second quarter Monday night against the Lakers in Game #2 of their playoff series. The Rockets kept it close through 2 1/2 quarters, but couldn't keep pace and lost 98-84. Click here and here for more photos from the game. (Photo courtesy AP).

1st quarter
11:46		On the first possession of the game, Yao gets the ball about 5 feet outside the left edge of the lane. He then pump fakes on Shaq, takes two big steps to the edge of the lane and goes up for a sweeping right-handed hook shot, but Shaq blocks it! Yao gains control of the loose ball, bounces the ball once, then takes two big steps toward the rim and tries to lay it in off the glass, but Shaq is able to swat it away! The Lakers get possession of the ball. Yao is 0-for-2 from the field. TNT analyst Doug Collins says, "He (Yao) can't be discouraged. He has to keep going at Shaquille O'Neal."
10:28		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane on Shaq, takes a step closer to the basket to the baseline, elevates and puts up a right-handed hook shot...and it's good! The game is tied 2-2, and Yao is 1-for-3 from the field with 2 points.
9:28		Yao misses a left-handed hook in the lane over Shaq (it was not blocked). He is now 1-for-4 from the field. The Lakers lead 7-4. Collins says: "He's getting good shots, though. That's another point-blank shot that he missed...keep going...for them to win he's got to get 19 or more points...if he misses the next four, he's got to keep shooting."
8:30		Yao misses a fallaway jumper from about 17 feet along the left baseline. The Lakers still lead 7-4, and Yao is now 1-for-5 from the field.
7:26	Free Throws	Yao goes up for a fadeaway jumper and is fouled by Shaq in the lane. That's Shaq's first foul. Yao makes the first free throw, but misses the second. The Rockets now trail 7-11. Yao has 3 points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field, and he is 1-for-2 from the line.
5:55	+ Free Throw	Steve Francis has the ball outside the three-point line on the right side, and Gary Payton lunges after the ball to go for a steal, so Francis blows past him and gets to the right edge of the lane, THEN WHIPS A NO-LOOK PASS OVER HIS SHOULDER TO YAO WHO CATCHES IT AT THE FREE THROW LINE WHILE MOVING TO THE BASKET. YAO PROCEEDS TO BOUNCE IT ONCE, THEN TAKES A BIG STEP TOWARD THE HOOP, STOPS, ELEVATES AND LAYS IT IN OVER SHAQ, AND HE'S FOULED! That's Shaq's second foul, and he has to check out for Slava Medvedenko. Yao goes to the line and makes the free throw. The Rockets trail 12-15, and Yao is 2-for-6 from the field and 2-for-3 from the line with 6 points.
4:41		Jim Jackson throws a perfect pass to Yao just to the left of the basket, and Yao lays it in for the bucket over Rick Fox! That was no contest! Yao is now 3-for-7 from the field with 8 points. The Rockets trail 14-15.
2:57	Free Throws	Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane, quickly turns into the lane, and he is fouled by Slava Medvedenko. Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws. The game is tied 19-19, and Yao has 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, and is 4-of-5 from the line.
:43.9	Travel	Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane and leans back on Karl Malone, who is guarding him. But Malone pulls back from Yao as he tries to lean backwards on Malone, and Yao falls to the floor on the old "pulling the chair" trick, and is called for traveling! Yao gets up and laughs at himself as he goes to the bench and is replaced by Clarence Weatherspoon.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets trail 22-23. The Rockets closed out the quarter on a 13-8 run. Karl Malone has 8 points, and Kobe Bryant has 9 points (5-for-5 from the line).
8:54		Yao checks into the game for Clarence Weatherspoon. The Rockets trail 25-31.
6:05		Yao misses a jumper from the right side of the court. He is now 3-for-8 from the field with 10 points. The Rockets trail 29-35.
4:31	Foul on Shaq	Shaq picks up his third foul and has to leave the game. Yao stays in the game.
3:59		On a semi-fast break, Francis brings the ball down court, stops a couple of feet outside the right edge of the lane, shakes-and-bakes for a second, then whips a pass to Yao who is running into the lane at the free throw lane. Yao takes two giant steps, jumps, AND THROWS IT DOWN WITH THE RIGHT HAND! THE ENTIRE ROCKETS BENCH ERUPTS OUT OF THEIR CHAIRS, AND THE LAKER CROWD IS STUNNED! The Lakers now only lead 38-36 after the Rockets have gone on a 6-0 run. Yao is now 4-for-9 from the field with 12 points.
3:21	Nice assist	From the top of the key, Francis passes to Yao in the lane and he immediately touch passes it (no-look) to Clarence Weatherspoon along the left baseline, and Spoon goes up for the jam! We haven't see a touch pass like that from Yao in quite some time! The Rockets now only trail 38-41.
2:17		From the left baseline, Yao misses a fallaway jumper over Karl Malone. He is now 4-for-10 from the field with 12 points.
1:34		Yao misses a hook shot from the right edge of the lane over Karl Malone. Yao is now 4-for-11 from the field with 12 points. The Rockets trail 42-44.
:54		Yao backs down Karl Malone on the right edge of the lane, then Yao spins quickly toward the baseline, elevates and floats a right-handed jumper from 6 feet for the score! Yao is now 5-for-12 from the field with 14 points, and the game is tied at 44-44.
Halftime - At the end of the second quarter, the Rockets lead 46-44. Houston went on a 16-6 run in the last 5 minutes of the second quarter. Jim Jackson has 13 points, and Yao has 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting with no fouls. Shaq has 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting with 3 fouls. The Rockets shot 46% in the first half and the Lakers shot 39%. Both teams only have 3 turnovers each.
3rd Quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
11:29		Yao misses a fadeaway jumper along the left edge of the lane. He is now 5-for-13 from the field with 12 points.
9:12	Free Throws	Yao dribbles into the lane and puts up a fallaway jumper in the lane, and he gets fouled by Shaq, which is his fourth foul! Yao goes to the line and makes the first free throw, but misses the second. The Rockets now lead 52-51. Yao is 5-for-7 from the line and is 5-for-13 from the field with 15 points.
8:12		Yao misses a jump shot from the top of the key. He is 5-for-14 from the field with 15 points. The Rockets lead 54-53.
6:11		Yao misses another jumper from the left edge of the lane along the baseline. He is now 5-for-15 from the field with 15 points, and he has missed every jump shot from the left side of the court.
4:25		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor.
3:20		Yao checks back into the game for Kelvin Cato.
4th Quarter - At the end of three quarters, the Rockets trail 64-74, thanks to a dumb foul by Cuttino Mobley on Kobe Bryant behind the three-point line with 2 seconds remaining in the quarter that extended the Laker lead from 7 points to 10. The Lakers outscored the Rockets 30-18 in the third quarter. Yao was 0-for-3 in the quarter with 1 point.
11:16		Yao misses a jump hook in the lane over Shaq. He is now 5-for-16 from the field with 15 points.
9:56	Turnover	Maurice Taylor penetrates into the lane and draws a couple of Lakers around him, then dishes to Yao who is standing all alone underneath the basket, AND YAO FUMBLES IT, GATHERS IT IN, AND GOES UP FOR A DUNK...BUT THE 24-SECOND CLOCK EXPIRES!! If Yao hadn't fumbled Taylor's perfect pass, the dunk would have counted. Instead, the Rockets still trail by 13 points, 66-79.
8:22	Turnover	Yao goes up for a fadeaway jumper along the right edge of the lane over Shaq, but since Shaq has him covered well, Yao opts to pass the ball toward Mark Jackson at the top of the key. But Jackson wasn't expecting the pass, and he goes chasing after the ball before it goes out of bounds. Jackson throws the ball back inbounds before he goes out of bounds himself, and the ball comes to Derek Fisher who dribbles it down court. A few seconds later Kareem Rush spots up for a three-pointer and hits it! Now up 85-69, that play broke the Rockets' back! Yao has hardly ever thrown that kind of pass before on that kind of shot, so you can't blame Jackson too much for not expecting the pass.
8:12		Yao checks out of the game for Kelvin Cato. The Rockets trail 69-85.
6:37		Yao checks into the game for Cato. The Rockets trail 71-87.
6:22		Shaq gets the ball along the right edge of the lane, spins around Yao and takes a big step toward the hoop, jumps up and tries to put up a difficult reverse layup from underneath the backboard, but Yao blocks it easily with both hands from underneath the rim! That's Yao's first block of the game. Shaq was trying to be acrobatic on that play, probably because Yao's length forced him to be creative.
4:31		With the Rockets down 72-89, Cuttino Mobley and Yao run a pick-and-roll at the three-point line. Mobley comes around the pick then passes to Yao about 3 feet outside the right edge of the lane. Yao squares up and shoots a jumper which goes in. The Rockets trail 74-89, and Yao is now 6-for-17 from the field with 17 points.
3:14		From about the same spot as before, Yao launches a fallaway jumper over Shaq that's good. NOW his shots are falling, but it's too late since the Rockets trail 78-93. Yao is 7-for-18 from the field with 19 points.
2:44		Francis drives into the lane and dishes to Yao underneath the rim, and Yao lays it in off the glass. However, the Lakers are not playing defense here in garbage time since the Rockets trail 80-93 and there is no chance of them winning. Yao is now 8-for-19 from the field with 21 points. TNT analyst Doug Collins says, "That's what you don't want to happen if you're the Lakers. You don't want Yao Ming to get 4 or 5 baskets here late in the game even though they won't count for this game, they help his confidence. Any time that ball goes in the basket, a young player is helped by it." And later Collins says, "These are unchartered waters for him right now. He's never played a game of this kind of magnitude. He's playing against the most dominant low-post player in the game. And every game is a learning experience, and he's learning quickly."