Yao Ming blocks a dunk attempt by LeBron James on Thursday night in Houston. Yao led all Houston scorers with 22 points. He also grabbed 12 boards in a 92-77 Houston win, their fifth in a row. Click here for more photos from the game. Click here for photos of Yao at the pre-game shootaround.

Since Thursday’s night game between the Rockets and Cavs was nationally televised in the U.S., many of you probably saw the game, so you probably don’t need me to rehash alot of it. So I’ll just mention some of the key takeaways from the game along with a few other thoughts.

Coming into this game, I was a bit worried that the Rockets were finally facing some tough competition — last year’s NBA Champion runner-up — compared to the Milaukees, Indianas and Minnesotas of the world. Cleveland also has a very similar record as the Rockets, and the Rockets have a worse record at home than they do on the road. So there were enough red flags here to be concerned.

It really hurt the Cavs that Drew Gooden, Anderson Varejao, and Sasha Pavlovic couldn’t play. Because of that and the fact they gave the Rockets plenty of chances to take the game, the Rockets took it, winning their fifth game in a row by beating Cleveland 92-77 despite not playing that well at times.

Here’s what the Rockets did poorly, but still overcame in the end:

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Yao Ming scores with Minnesota’s Al Jefferson looks on Monday night in Minnesota. Yao would only score 16 points and grab 5 boards in a game that went down to the wire, which the Rockets won 92-86. Click here for more photos from the game.

Before the Rockets ever played the Timberwolves on Monday night, I knew the Rockets were going to be in for a fight. Although Minnesota had a 10-36 record entering the game, they had won 4 in a row at home, 5 of their last 7 games, and had beaten Golden State and Phoenix during that stretch.

That was enough to strike fear in my heart. This is the type of team the Rockets have given away games so many times in the past, and I knew the risk of them losing this game was going to be extremely high.

So during the first 3 quarters of play, I was just happy the Rockets hadn’t blown the game already. They led 24-18 after the first quarter, 47-42 at halftime, and 66-63 headed into the fourth quarter.

Things were looking great when they opened up a 10-point lead, 75-65, with 7:25 remaining in the game. I was ecstatic the Rockets appeared to have taken care of business, even if it was an ugly game getting to that point. But who cares, a win is a win, right?

Except this is the Rockets we’re talking about. Rather than cruise to a victory, they absolutely fell apart on the worst display of basketball I have seen since…well, the Rockets blew that 12-point fourth quarter lead to the 76ers on January 15th at home.

You know the saying in basketball, “live by the three, die by the three?” That applies here to some degree since Tracy McGrady hit a late 3-pointer to pull the game out to help the Rockets win 92-86. But I have a twist to that old adage: “live by the ‘T,’ die by the ‘T.’” When I say ‘T,’ I do mean Tracy.

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Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian battle for position Saturday night in a much anticipated match-up. The game didn’t turn out as expected, with Yao and Yi both struggling from the field. Click here for more photos from the game. Click here for pre-game photos of Yao and Yi. Click here for photos of fans while watching the game.

Although the Rockets beat Milwaukee 91-83 Saturday night, the much anticipated rematch of Yao vs. Yi turned out to be a dud.

Yao had a below average game, getting outplayed by another #1 draft pick, Andrew Bogut. Bogut looked like the All-Star, scoring 20 points on 10-of-20 shooting, most of them made over Yao. I wonder if the Australian continent tuned in for this one?

Yao only scored 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, was shockingly only 2-of-5 from the free throw line, but did rack up 3 blocks. He had his moments in the fourth quarter as the Rockets finally pulled away after the Bucks had taken a 69-68 lead early in the quarter. He had a huge dunk with 8:02 remaining to make it 72-69, and also had a block with 1:25 remaining to keep the Bucks from making a late charge.

Coach Rick Adelman was still supportive of Yao, saying, “He had a lot of good opportunities and good looks. You’re not going to be good every night…It’s all about winning. It doesn’t have to be about points.”

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Yao Ming blocked Mike Dunleavy’s layup attempt with 4 minutes remaining in the Rockets’ game against Indiana. Although Yao ‘only’ scored 17 points in the game, this block was huge since the Rockets were still trailing at the time 99-97. Rookie Carl Landry scored a game-high 22 points to help the Rockets pull out a close game in the fourth quarter.

The Rockets started their 3-game road trip in Indiana realizing the pressure was on them to win all 3 of these games against teams who probably won’t make the playoffs (Milwaukee on Saturday and Minnesota on Monday). If they don’t win these very ‘winnable’ games, the Rockets’ chances of making the playoffs themselves will take a huge hit.

So you think they would come out determined to put the clamps on early against a struggling Indiana team that had lost 4 in a row and 14 of their last 18, right? Not so.

They ultimately got the job done by winning the game 106-103, but the star who pulled them through wasn’t Yao or Tracy McGrady. It was rookie Carl Landry, who came back to the state where he played college (Purdue) and was a monster in the fourth quarter.

Rarely do you see a rookie make his first homecoming (of sorts) and be the X-factor in a game in front of his college team’s fans, former college coaches, and teammates. But that’s what Landry did. Landry scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter and 3-of-4 from the line for 13 points.

There is no doubt there is something really special about this kid. That’s what we had heard from the Rockets’ coaching staff and teammates about Landry in practice while he bided his time on the bench earlier this season, and by what he has showed us over the past couple of weeks since getting some playing time.

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It was announced by the NBA today that Yao was named the Western Conference Player of the Month (LeBron was the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month). As this press release states…

Yao led the Rockets to a 10-4 month averaging 22.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists. In a 111-107 win over Golden State on Jan. 29, Yao tied his season-highs in points (36), rebounds (19) and free throws made (14). He matched his career best with five consecutive double-doubles (Jan. 19 – Jan. 29) and is the only player in the Western Conference to be averaging at least 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks this season.

Here’s a recap of Yao’s best games in January:

Jan. 5 vs. New York: Had 30 points, eight rebounds and a season-high six assists in a 103-91 win over the Knicks.
Jan. 9 @ New York: Had a season-high 36 points to go along with 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a 101-92 win over the Knicks.
Jan. 19 vs. San Antonio: Recorded 21 points and 14 rebounds in an 83-81 win over the Spurs.
Jan. 21 vs. Seattle: Scored 30 points and grabbed 17 boards in a 96-89 win over the SuperSonics.
Jan. 29 vs. Golden State: Had a season-high 36 points and 19 rebounds in a 111-107 win over the Warriors.

If Yao gets another couple of Player of the Month awards, along with leading his team to the playoffs, then Yao could get serious consideration for NBA MVP honors. But we’ll take it one step at a time.

I’m a little bit late, but Raymond has translated another article from Titan Sports that was posted in the forum Friday morning. He says several interesting things (as always) including his preference for the Rockets guards to penetrate into the lane since it makes it more likely that if they miss, he can grab the rebound.

I just wish all the Rockets guard would take Yao’s preference to heart. Thanks for the translation, Raymond!