Yao and T-Mac take one of their first photos in Las Vegas for All-Star weekend. Click here to see more photos of how Vegas and the NBA have rolled out the red carpet for players and fans.

Man, check out the photos from Vegas that Raymond has posted in the forum. I’m impressed how much money has been put into making Vegas look like it does right now, including the Thomas & Mack Center, a very boring arena in my opinion.

I had to watch most of the Rockets-Mavs game from an airport sports bar TV Thursday night. Because my flight was late in departing, I got to see most of the game until about the 6:16 mark in the fourth quarter when Dirk Nowitzki hit a three-pointer to put the Mavericks ahead 72-69. That was his second three-pointer in a row, and leading up to that point, Dallas had made a furious 12-0 run in the third quarter to take away the Rockets’ hope that they could coast to a victory against their arch rivals.

It was sickening how the Rockets could hardly hit a bucket in that third quarter (only 3-of-13!), very reminiscent of their game in Dallas last week when the Mavs went on a 16-0 run to suck the life out of the Rockets on their way to a blowout victory.

Also sickening was how the Rockets squandered opportunities before those two Nowitzki three-pointers, missing 5 free throws in the 4th quarter alone before those buckets. Juwan Howard missed two free throws after a great hustle play by Chuck Hayes where he sprinted from behind to catch Jason Terry, knock the ball away, leading to a Houston fast break where Howard got fouled in the act of shooting.

T-Mac had missed 3 free throws at that point, precious points the Rockets couldn’t afford to squander when you have to play almost perfectly to beat a 43-9 team like Dallas.

Like I mentioned earlier, after Dirk hit his second trey and the Mavericks had all the momentum now leading 72-69, I had to stop watching the game and jump on my plane. It was an interesting position for me because I cannot ever remember NOT watching a game when it comes down to the wire. So I thought it would be interesting to predict what would happen. Since I was on the plane to the point I’m writing this, I don’t know what the outcome of the game is, so here’s my prediction.

“I predict the Rockets will continue to fall behind after having their ego crushed yet again by another Maverick comeback. They will make a valiant effort to stay in the game, but will continue to miss big shots down the stretch, including more missed free throws, while the Mavericks continue to make theirs and show why they have the league’s best record. The Rockets will lose and will be lamenting all the blown opportunities, including those huge missed free throws in the fourth.”

After I got home and watched the recording, I was able to see if my prediction was correct. I was partly correct. Here’s what happened:

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