With all the excitement of Houston’s home opener Saturday night against Portland, the Rockets lived up to expectations that a revamped bench and a 2-0 record have created by taking command early and not being threatened too much by a young Blazer team.

The Rockets started off the first quarter on an 18-4 run, led by Yao Ming scoring 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. In that first quarter, he hit a fallaway jumper, a jump hook, a wicked spin move on the baseline for a layup, and a dunk! Yao would finish the night with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Not a bad night for a guy who says he still feels uncomfortable spending 50% of his time in the high post.

Click here for more photos from the game. Click here for video from the game.

Yao missed several easy jump shots in the second half that makes me a little concerned about his shooting accuracy. That’s the second game in a row where he has hit a dry spell within a game. But hopefully it’s only temporary and he’ll get those fallaways and jump hooks on target soon.

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Our Raymond has done another great job translating an interview that Titan Sports did with Yao Ming after the Laker game, and before the Utah game. Here it is…

In the midst of the Salt Lake City night, looking out at an ice-cold and listless city from the window of his hotel room, the grief and bitterness of 6 months earlier suddenly rushed and welled into Yao Ming’s heart.

He manipulated the TV remote control in his hand, and there he saw a diminutive and bald commentator still with a pair of black eye sockets on the TV screen. Jeff Van Gundy, the man who single-handedly trained and pushed him to become the #1 center in the NBA had gone back to become a TV sports commentator. And the Houston Rockets have also said goodbye to his era of defensive-minded, rigid and mechanical style of play.

25 points and 12 rebounds: these are all career new-high for Yao Ming in an NBA season opener. Moreover, it was his very first win in season openers played away from home. But the only feeling Yao Ming had was…..it was sheer luck.

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