Yao is double-teamed by the Sonics’ Ray Allen and Vitaly Potapenko Thursday night in Seattle. Yao played another great game, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to help Houston win it’s fifth game in a row, 104-98. For more photos from the game, click here.

by John

THURSDAY, 12/15/05 – For the second night in a row, a late game on the West Coast was worth staying up to watch for Rocket fans. Houston came through in a nerve-wracking fourth quarter against Seattle to astonishingly win their 5th straight game (104-98), fourth in a row on their longest road trip of the year, and they now have a rapidly respectable 9-12 record.

It’s strange to say it after having a 4-12 record only a couple of weeks ago, but I think the Rockets are now playing with the same confidence they were last year when they were making their incredible run to the playoffs, and they are doing it without a starting point guard (Rafer Alston) and sharpshooting veteran (Jon Barry). Just a couple of weeks ago they were playing their worst basketball in years. What a difference a McGrady makes!

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Unbelievably on this play involving Golden State’s Baron Davis, Yao is called for a foul. It didn’t matter, though, since the Rockets had an amazing comeback in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime where they closed out their fourth straight win. Yao led all scorers with one of his best games this season, scoring 30 points on 67% shooting and grabbing 16 boards. For more photos from the game, click here.

by John

WEDNESDAY, 12/14/05 – I was dreading writing this report tonight when the Rockets were down 11 points to Golden State with 4:40 remaining Thursday night. They had played so well in the first half, and everything had looked so promising at halftime for a pretty big upset on the road against a much improved Warriors team.

But the Rockets made an amazing comeback to tie the score at the end of regulation to put the game into overtime, then pulled off one of their most improbable and amazing wins of the young season Wednesday night, shocking the Golden State Warriors to win in overtime 111-105.

NOW I am VERY motivated to write about the details of this game (funny what a win will do, huh?). There’s only one problem: the game ended close to 12:30am Houston time, and I don’t have enough time to provide a normal report. I wish I could have everyone come over to my place and watch a replay of the game on my Tivo because this game had everything. But here’s a short synopsis of some of the highlights.

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‘Reunited and it feels so good.’ Yao and T-Mac play in the same game on Tuesday night for the first time in five games. Both Yao and T-Mac scored 25 points in beating Atlanta, 100-85, to snap their 7-game losing streak. For more photos from the game, click here.

by John

TUESDAY, 11/29/05 – I was ecstatic to hear before the Rockets game against Atlanta that T-Mac would play! It felt like Christmas 26 days early!

After watching McGrady’s impact on the team Tuesday night and seeing his team defeat the Hawks 100-85, it will be fun to watch the Rockets try to dig themselves out of their 3-11 hole (now 4-11). Okay, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself since Atlanta (now 2-11) is not Detroit or San Antonio. It’s still not going to be easy.

It’s amazing the difference that T-Mac made right out of the gate, scoring Houston’s first six points. Since it had been 11 days since his last game action, he had to ask coach Jeff Van Gundy for a break at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter because he was so winded. However, he came back a few minutes later to finish the quarter with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and pushed Houston to a 26-22 lead heading into the second quarter. Can it get any more obvious how valuable he is to this team?

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Yao falls to the floor in pain after Chicago’s Malik Allen stepped on his ankle. Yao shook off the injury to score a season-high 30 points, 14 coming in the fourth quarter to lead a Rocket comeback. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as the Rockets lost their 7th straight, 94-89 to the Chicago Bulls. For more photos from the game, click here.

by John

SATURDAY, 11/26/05 – If you watched the Rockets game on Saturday night against Chicago, you actually missed a pretty entertaining game. It reminded me of an expansion team playing in front of their home crowd that knows their team is not going to make the playoffs, are playing for pride instead, and everyone is okay with that.

It’s gotten that low, folks, when I’m comparing the Rockets to an expansion team.

You’ve got to give credit to the Houston fans for cheering on their team as they made one of their biggest comebacks of the season. They got very loud as the Rockets crept back into the game. Down 75-60, the Rockets went on a 25-10 run, powered by Yao hitting 6-of-6 shots in the fourth quarter (14 points) on his way to scoring a season-high 30 points. Before he got hot, Yao had only made 3-of-12 shots, and had only hit 1 of his last 9 shot attempts.

I could go into lots of details on how it all panned out, but since they lost it doesn’t really matter. I’ll just say the Rockets had plenty of chances to snap their 6-game losing streak. But when the game was tied 85-85 with 1:37 remaining, the Rockets’ defense (second-best in the NBA, which is shocking) let Kirk Hinrich (forcing Yao to foul him and foul out of the game) and Chris Duhon score on easy drives to the hole without any resistance, and that was just about it.

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Yao puts up a sweet finger roll in the fourth quarter to help lead the Rockets to a 100-92 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night in Houston. Yao scored 12 points in the pivotal fourth quarter, and finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

WEDNESDAY, 4/13/05 – It’s something you can’t say for every game this season, but without Yao on Wednesday night, the Rockets would have lost. Yao was clutch when the Rockets needed him most, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter in a very tight game against the Memphis Grizzlies, leading the Rockets to a 100-92 victory. Yao finished with 28 points, 9 boards and 4 rejections. Although Yao has always been known for his high percentage field goal shooting, Yao’s defense and shot-blocking skills have improved over the past few weeks and made a difference in this game.

Yao got off to a great start in the first quarter, hitting all four of his shots with confidence for eight points. T-Mac was the reason for at least two of those made shots, dishing two assists to Yao down low for easy buckets. T-Mac also scored 8 points in the first quarter, but the Grizzlies still led at the end of the quarter, 26-24, thanks to Mike Miller’s 9 points.

In the second quarter, the Rockets went on an 8-0 run to take a 40-30 lead, and a few minutes later they held a 46-33 lead. Yao scored 6 points thanks to 4-of-4 shooting from the free throw line, and point guard Mike James shot an amazing 3-of-3 from three-point territory. Miller continued his hot shooting, scoring another six points on 3-of-4 shooting. By halftime, the Rockets led 52-42 thanks to 44% shooting in the first half and five three-pointers. T-Mac and Yao both had 14 points each.

In the third quarter, the Rockets opened up their largest lead of the night at 62-46 after running off an 8-0 run. But the Grizzlies came storming back, thanks to a 20-7 run sparked by a McGrady-like scoring binge by Miller, who scored 13 points and three treys to bring them to within 69-66.

The fourth quarter was a nail-biter, with the game nip-and-tuck the entire quarter. Every time it looked like the Rockets were going to pull away, the determined Grizzlies would battle back and stay within striking distance. It wasn’t until T-Mac dished a nifty pass to Yao who was cutting down the middle of the lane to lay it off the glass for the deuce, and was fouled with 1:08 remaining. Yao then went to the line and hit the penalty free throw to give the Rockets a 93-88 lead. Twenty-seven seconds later, Mike James (15 points) hit his fourth three-pointer of the game at the 41 second mark to give the Rockets a 96-90 lead to basically seal the deal. It was great to see James hit a big shot when the Rockets needed it.

Mike Miller (career-high 37 points) gave the Houston fans lots of headaches during the game, but he won their favor by fouling T-Mac with only .2 seconds remaining when the game was in the Rockets’ hands 98-92. That foul gave T-Mac a chance to go to the line and shoot two free throws to hit the 100-point mark and give the attendees free Big Macs. Needless to say, after T-Mac drained both free throws, the Houston crowd was ecstatic.

With the victory, the Rockets kept the Grizzlies, currently battling Minnesota for the 8th and final seed in the Western Conference playoffs, from clinching a playoff spot. The Rockets also stayed neck-and-neck with the Denver Nuggets for the sixth playoff seed.

Denver won their game on Wednesday night against New Orleans. So if the Nuggets beat Memphis in Denver on Friday night, the Rockets and Nuggets will have the same record (48-31) with only three games remaining. One of those games involves a duel between the two teams on Saturday night in Houston, which will most certainly be a showdown for that 6th playoff spot (or maybe the 5th) to play Seattle (or Dallas) in the first round of the playoffs.

I will be at that game, and I can’t wait to file my report…unless the Rockets lose, of course.

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To read the Houston Chronicle’s post-game analysis, click here and here.

3/12/05, SATURDAY – The game versus the Suns was easily Yao’s best game of the season. Possibly one of the best of his career. For those of you who saw the game you witnessed exactly what I did. For those of you that didn’t see it, let me sum it up: Imagine Yao as the superstar everyone hyped him up to be, a player that changed the game, a dynasty player, a player that you just watch in awe, imagine Yao playing to his fullest potential – that was Yao against the Suns. Dominant, unstoppable, a force.

27 points, 22 rebounds, 5 blocks.

It is hard to describe what transpired last night, but it was nothing less than complete domination of the best team and the best offense in the league. It was a Rockets offense so in tune that it scored 41 points in the fourth quarter. It was a hungry, aggressive,in-your-face Yao that scored a double-double in the fourth quarter alone.

It was defense so smothering it limited the Suns to 14 points in the fourth. It was blowing out the best team and doubling their previously largest loss margin at their home. It was Yao completely shutting down Amare Stoudamire’s offense in the second half making him alter and miss countless shots and blocking four of them. It was T-Mac playing like a madman that couldn’t miss if he tried. It was a Rocket’s team that feared nothing and believed they can make it all the way.

But more than just a huge victory, there was a change. A slight change, but a change that holds the possibility for so much more. Finally we saw Yao imposing his will on the game, grabbing rebounds like a machine, scoring like a machine, and playing as if nothing could stop him.

It was embarrassing for the Suns. It was a defining moment in the Rockets’ season. It is a warning shot to all the other teams in the league. The Rockets and Yao are coming.

Chia-Chi
zenithnadir@YaoMingFanClub.com

Yao reacts after scoring two of his 27 points in a shocking 127-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday. Yao also grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

FRIDAY, 3/11/05 – With Bob Sura returning to the lineup for the first time Friday since being put on the injured list a couple of weeks ago, everyone expected the Rockets to at least be competitive against an awesome Phoenix Suns offense. But there was no way they were going to win considering they were in for a “track meet” and certain to fade down the stretch.

Instead, the exact opposite happened. Sura’s contribution was minimal (2 points on 1-of-5 shooting, two rebounds). But the one-two punch of Shaq-Kobe, er, I mean Yao-T-Mac carried the Rockets to an improbable 127-107 victory against the best offense in the league…and on the road in Phoenix!

The Rockets were down 14 points in the third quarter that made most pre-game predictions look like they were going to be fulfilled. But their 41-17 outburst in the fourth quarter was completely unexpected, thanks to Yao and T-Mac doing their thing.

Yao was incredible in this game, dominating in the fourth quarter with 14 points to finish with 27 overall on 10-of-18 shooting (7-of-9 from the free throw line). Yao also grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds and had 5 blocks. Maybe I’ve been reading too much hype about Amare Stoudemire, but I couldn’t believe that Yao was able to take Stoudemire (who only scored 7 points on 2-of-10 shooting) to school like he did in the second half. Four of Yao’s 5 blocks came against Stoudemire, leaving him discombobulated.

Rather than myself include lots of quotes here about how amazed Yao’s teammates were with his performance, you’ve got to read all the props they gave Yao after the game by clicking here and reading the Houston Chronicle’s coverage of the game.

T-Mac was also amazing, scoring 38 points on 16-of-27 shooting, filling it up with 21 points in the second half. He also had 9 rebounds. What else can you say about him? He’s unbelievable.

Other amazing stats of this game were that the Rockets outscored the Suns 20-9 in fast break points, and had 6 steals to Phoenix’s three.

My colleague Chia-Chi is traveling right now, but he will provide his take of Friday’s game later today (Saturday).

Now that the Rockets have won two games in a row on the road that hardly anyone expected them to win (Seattle and now Phoenix), the hopes of a sweep of the remaining games on this road trip (Sacramento and Golden State) may amazingly be possible.

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com