Yao shoots over former teammate Stromile Swift on his way to 28 points in an 85-76 win over the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday night at Toyota Center for the Rockets third win in a row. Click here for the game story. Click here for more photos.

The Rockets again showed Saturday night that when things are going south — like they did in the second quarter against Memphis – they can stare panic and defeat in the face and still find a way to get the job done. That’s a mark of a team that I think can go a long way this season.

Against the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday night, the Rockets were sizzling in the first quarter, shooting 61% on their way to a 24-18 lead, with Yao making all four of his shots.

But then all of a sudden the wheels came off. The Rockets only hit 20% of their shots in the second, with Yao only making 1-of-4 shot attempts.

Meanwhile, Memphis showed their athleticism and quickness during a run that gave them to a 39-37 halftime lead. They were aggressive going to the rack, getting fouled, and shooting 20 free throws in the first half compared only to Houston’s eight.

Rudy Gay, Houston’s first round 2006 draft pick traded to Memphis along with Stromile Swift for Shane Battier, showed glimpses Saturday night why Memphis GM Jerry West wanted him so badly. At the half Gay was tied with Brian Cardinal for most Memphis points (7 points), led the team in rebounds (6) and blocks (2). One of those blocks came against Yao in an amazing athletic move.

So Houston went into the locker room at halftime wondering if their reknown fourth quarter offensive collapses were now moving up in schedule a couple of quarters early. Would they be able to put that bad shooting behind them and come out with more resolve at the start of the second half?

Did they ever.

Rafer Alston came out more aggressive out of the gate, scoring on three of Houston’s first 4 possessions with a jump shot, a running floater along the baseline, and a Skip-to-My-Lou crossover-like move to the basket for a layup. Throw into that scoring mix a dunk by Yao, a tip-in by Shane Battier after a missed Alston free throw, and a few easy shots by Yao, and the Rockets finally got some breathing room to take a 53-47 lead.

The Rockets ended up outscoring Memphis 28-13 in that pivotal third quarter to lead 65-54, and kept playing hard to open the lead up to 15 points in the fourth quarter, cruising to their third straight win.

Yao finished with a team-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting, 8 rebounds and three blocks.

The things I like about Yao’s game this season that is leading to his increased scoring numbers this season (26.4 ppg vs. 22.3 last season) are the following:

First, he’s getting to the line almost 3 times more per game this season, and making the same percentage (about 85%) of free throw attempts.

The other thing is that he isn’t blowing near as many chip shots around the rim like he has done in previous seasons. I think that might be coming not only with being stronger and using more of his weight to get exactly where he wants around the basket, but taking his time and concentrating all the way through his shot when he is around the rim.

T-Mac was fantastic, showing once again how great of a passer he is, finishing with a career-tying 13 assists and 19 points. I think he is still shooting too many three-pointers (1-for-4), although the one that he did make was a difficult one that came at the shot clock buzzer. It’s almost like if he has time to think about the shot, he misses it, but if he has to use his natural ability and just shoot, his muscle memory kicks in and the shot goes in.

But his ability to find open shooters is phenomenal, including a wraparound behind-the-back pass to Yao for a dunk.

Honorable mention goes to Luther Head, who continues to shoot lights out from three-point territory, hitting 3-of-4 treys (9 points total), including two in the fourth quarter that kept Memphis a comfortable distance away. Luther is really having a breakout year, hitting 50% of his three-pointers, and is just the kind of contribution they need from a second-year player. Dallas had Devin Harris come to the forefront last season, and his fellow Illinois teammate Deron Williams is having that kind of year this season (18 ppg, 9.3 assists per game) with the surprising 12-2 Utah Jazz.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 26th, 2006 at 12:25 pm and is filed under vs. Memphis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.