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Yao Ming blocks Memphis' Pau Gasol's shot in the second quarter Saturday night in Houston. For the second game in a row, Yao scored 19 points. He also had 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. But it wasn't enough as the Rockets lost to Memphis 79-71. (Photo courtesy of AP).

1st quarter - Yao starts the game, but loses the tip to Pau Gasol.
10:45	Free Throws	In a play we saw frequently on Opening Night on Thursday, Jim Jackson delivers a pass from behind the three-point line to Yao, who is stationed on the left edge of the paint. Guarded one-on-one by Stromile Swift, Yao spins quickly to the baseline leaving Swift behind in his wake (Swift looked "slow," get it?). Yao dribbles a couple of times down the baseline and puts up a reverse layup attempt, but is fouled by Swift. Yao misses both free throws, which is very unusual!
9:39		This time on the right edge of the lane, Yao goes to work against Swift again. With his back to the basket, he dribbles a couple of times, then turns into the lane and launches his unblockable 12-foot fadeaway jumper, and it hits nothing but net! The crowd roars as Houston takes a 9-4 lead. Yao is 1-for-1 from the field with 2 points. Memphis TV analyst Stromile Swift says, "Stromile jumps with the best of them in the league and he still can't get up to challenge the shot."
9:13		From almost the same spot as the last play, Yao steps into the lane then launches his fadeaway. Swift tries to play off him and jumps high to block it, but again he's unsuccessful as Yao's shot falls beautifully through the cords of the net! The thing I like about this play is that the Houston players are constantly moving rather than just watching Yao work all by himself. That forces the defense to react and create more room for Yao to do his thing. That was Yao's second field goal in a row, and he's now 2-for-2 from the field with 4 points. The Rockets lead 11-6.
3:31		Yao checks out of the game. The Rockets trail 13-20 after having led the game 11-6.
2nd Quarter - As the quarter begins, the Rockets have been outscored on a 16-2 run and trail 13-22. It doesn't help that the Rockets had 8 turnovers and horrible shooting (33%), including blown layups near the rim. Yao has 4 points on 2-of-2 shooting.
11:38		In the opening possession of the second quarter, the Rockets offense is still struggling and seems disjointed. Moochie Norris is in the game, and with only 3 seconds on the shot clock, he hands the ball to Yao who is out near the 3-point line. Yao takes one step inside the arc, squares up and fires a 21-footer with beautiful form...AND IT'S GOOD!!!! Yao bails out the Rockets! What a shot with the shot clock winding down! We miss seeing Yao shoot these long-range bombs! That's the first Rocket point in 6 minutes of play. Yao is 3-for-3 from the field with 6 points.
9:45	Free Throws	The Rockets are trailing 15-26, and their offense is still bogging down. They are in desperate need of some points. Francis bounces a pass to Yao who is moving toward the basket. Yao jumps toward the basket and double pumps while in mid-air to avoid getting his shot blocked. On his way down, he shoots it off the glass and the ball just rims out! But he was fouled on the shot by Bo Outlaw. Yao makes both free throws and has 8 points (now 2-for-4 from the line). The Rockets trail by 9 points with the score being 17-26.
4:19		After Memphis guard Jason Williams missed a 3-pointer, former Rocket James Posey gains possession to the left of the basket, and it's too enticing for him to not put up a shot. Unfortunately for him, Yao is right there and reacts quickly to swat it away (however on the official stat sheet Yao is not credited for the block, which he should be)! Jason Williams gets the rebound and puts up a quick shot from the free throw line, but he misses and Yao gets the rebound! Great sequence for Yao on D.
2:49	Free Throws	As Yao is about to receive a pass in the post, Memphis player Lorenzen Wright is there to deflect the ball away from him, but the refs call a loose ball foul on Wright who is furious with the call. He may have a point there. So Yao goes to the free throw line and nails both, who is now 4-for-6 from the line and has 10 points. The Rockets trail 29-32.
2:36		Pau Gasol is able to spin away from Kelvin Cato and goes baseline similar to how Yao does it. However, Yao does a great job to not only block Gasol's shot from underneath the rim on a scoop shot, but the ball also touches Gasol before it goes out of bounds. Rockets ball!
1:33		From the elbow of the free throw line, Steve Francis throws an alley-oop pass to Yao who is underneath the basket, but the pass is a bit too high and Yao decides to catch it with only one hand. Yao gets his hand on it, but he's not able to slam it down like he thought. Nothing is going right for the Rockets! So Yao is now 3-for-5 from the field.
1:22		To his credit, although Yao missed the alley-oop dunk, on the ensuing Memphis fast break Mike Miller goes up for a sure layup, but Kelvin Cato is there to block it! The ball comes down to Pau Gasol underneath the Rockets rim, and he puts up a shot BUT YAO IS THERE TO SWAT IT AWAY! GREAT HUSTLE BY THE ROCKETS FRONT LINE TO GET BACK ON DEFENSE TO BLOCK 2 CONSECUTIVE SHOTS! The Rockets now only trail by one point, 31-32. The Grizzlies haven't scored in over 5 minutes.
0:00		Pau Gasol drives the lane and Yao is there to make him alter his shot, which actually goes over the backboard. Looking at the replay, Yao didn't even touch it, but Gasol shot the ball so poorly the official scorekeeper thought he must have had his shot blocked. So Yao gets credit for the block, which evens out the block he didn't get credit for earlier in the quarter.
Halftime - The Rockets trail the Grizzlies 33-34 in a very low-scoring affair. Yao is 3-for-5 from the field with 10 points.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
10:45		Yao gets the ball down in the low block with Swift guarding him, and Francis flashes past him and takes his defender with him. With no threat of a double-team, Yao dribbles twice just inside the left edge of the lane and lofts a beautiful right-hand hook shot high over his head, and it swishes through the net! That bucket ties the score, and Yao has 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor. The Rockets tie the score at 36-36.
7:29		Jim Jackson drives down the middle of the lane and puts up a running jumper, but the shot is too strong and bounces off the backboard and rim...however, Yao is there to pick up the rebound and in perfect textbook fashion, keeps the ball above his head, takes one step toward the basket and lays it in for the deuce! Yao is now 5-for-7 from the field with 14 points! Rockets trail 42-44.
5:11		The Rockets do a great job of moving the ball around quickly with crisp passes when Francis passes to Jim Jackson (stationed behind the three point line along the sideline). Jackson sees Yao, who is standing near the elbow of the lane, start breaking toward the bucket and zips him a perfect lead pass so that Yao can catch the ball in stride and HAMMER IT HOME WITH A LEFT-HANDED DUNK! We have really been impressed with Jim Jackson's passing the past couple of games. He's a very unselfish, smart player. The Rockets lead 49-46. Yao is 6-for-8 from the field with 16 points.
4:01		Yao checks out of the game with 16 points. He is replaced by Maurice Taylor, and Cato moves over to the center spot.
4th quarter - At the start of the 4th, the Rockets lead 56-51. Yao is the game's leading scorer thus far with 16 points. The Rockets have turned the ball over 17 times!
10:16		Yao checks into the game for Cato. The Rockets lead 58-55.
9:33	Free Throws	In a helter-skelter play, the Rockets are bringing the ball up the court, but Memphis' Earl Watson deflects the ball and before he falls out of bounds passes the ball to his teammate Wesley Person. Person gets a hand on it, but Francis comes from behind to knock the ball away, and it hits another Memphis player! But Moochie is there to pick up the loose ball and quickly sees Yao under the basket, then lofts a 70-foot pass to him. Yao has a point-blank shot, and Memphis has no choice to foul him and put him on the line. Yao makes the first free throw but misses the second (now 5-for-8 from the line). Yao has 17 points, and the Rockets lead 58-57.
4:03		Yao checks out of the game for Bostjan Nachbar with the Rockets only trailing by 9 points, 63-72. Why isn't Yao in there? The offense is struggling, and you would think they would need his points or his ability to grab rebounds and score easy garbage buckets. Instead, Nachbar is put in there and subsequently throws up bricks. Boki was a first round draft pick? Hasn't played like one.
2:10		Yao checks back into the game for Cato. The Rockets trail 65-73.
:51.2		Trying to make a desperate comeback trailing 75-69, the Rockets' Cuttino Mobley throws the ball down to Yao underneath the basket. Yao is covered by two Grizzlies, but is able to power his way through the outstretched arms of Pau Gasol to lay it in, and he's fouled! The Rockets now only trail 71-75. Yao misses the free throw (now 5-for-9 from the line) but Francis is able to grab the rebound. Unfortunately, just like everything that has been going on tonight, Francis is called for charging, and that just about does it.
:5.8		In garbage time, Yao shoots a 3-pointer that misses. The Rockets go on to lose 71-79 to a team that won only 2 games against Western Conference opponents last year. In 37 minutes, Yao finishes with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, and 5-for-9 shooting from the free throw line (unusually low for him). He also had 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. What a disappointing loss.