Yao takes the ball away from Allen Iverson Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Overall, Yao looked good by scoring 19 points in 21 minutes. For more photos from the game, click here. (Ensuing page may load slowly)

by John

TUESDAY, 10/11/05 - Even though Tuesday was the first game of the preseason for the Rockets, it was great to see them in action again. A lot of the new guys surprised me by playing well for the first preseason game, this one played against the 76ers in Philadelphia. Beyond playing well, a bonus was that the Rockets won the thing, 105-91.

Watching the game on television, it was difficult for me to tell the difference among all the new guards, like Derek Anderson, Rafer Alston, Keith Langford, and rookie Luther Head. I’m sure it will take a couple of games to get used to them all. I really liked what I saw. There was a lot more passing (26 assists) and ball movement, which is surprising considering it’s so early in the preseason. We’ll see if they keep doing this and accomplish my desired goal of sharing the ball this season like the Spurs.

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If you hadn’t heard yet, Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire is out for at least four months (maybe even longer) because of a microfracture in his knee. Obviously, that injury is not only important to fans who follow teams in the highly competitive Western Conference, but is also important to fantasy league players. Without question, Yao will move up one rung in fantasy league drafts for centers, right behind Shaq.

As much as I didn’t like Stoudemire during his cocky rookie year…the NBA suffers during his absence.