YaoMingMania.com

Yao Ming tries to get position on Dallas' Danny Fortson on Thursday night. The Rockets lost to the Mavericks in Dallas 97-86, snapping their 4-game winning streak. Yao had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. (Photo courtesy AP).

1st quarter - Kelvin Cato is assigned to jump for the tip ball rather than Yao.
10:42		Yao misses a fallaway jumper over Danny Fortson.
10:14		Yao misses another fallaway jumper from the right ede of the lane. However, Dirk Nowitzki accidentally tips it in! Since Cato was near Nowitzki, Kelvin will get credit for the score.
8:22		Yao misses a little jumper in the lane, shooting too hard off the backboard. The Rockets trail 2-6.
4:07	Free Throws	Francis shoots a jumper that misses, but Yao skies high over 7'6" center Shawn Bradley to tip the pass to himself. Yao gathers in the rebound in front of the rim, lowers his shoulder to shed Bradley off him, then goes up for either a dunk or a little 2-foot shot, and Bradley fouls Yao on the arm. Great aggressiveness and power shown by Yao on Bradley. Yao makes both free throws, and ties the score 12-12.
3:46	Intimidation	Bradley gets a rebound on the right baseline and puts up a shot, but Yao is there to challenge it and makes Bradley alter the trajectory to miss the shot.
3:02		Yao gets the ball along the baseline with Bradley guarding him. He manuevers toward the basket and tries a reverse layup underneath, but Bradley's long arms are there to make Yao alter the shot, and the shot misses badly. This shot attempt may have been dunkable, but he would have had to power up through Bradley's long arms to do it.
1:42	Intimidation	Antawn Jamison gathers in a rebound over Yao, and Jamison goes up for a little jump hook, but Yao stays with the play and makes Jamison alter the shot. Yao's presence inside is making the Mavericks think twice when going up for shots.
0:36		Yao checks out of the game, replaced by Torraye Braggs. Yao has 2 points, shooting 2-for-2 from the line and 0-for-4 from the field.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets trail 18-20. Former Maverick Jim Jackson has been shooting superbly, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Yao starts the second quarter.
5:01		Yao checks out of the game for Mobley.
4:19		Guarded one-on-one by Antawn Jamison, Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the paint. He dribbles once, turns into the lane and shoots with perfect form a right-handed hook shot over Jamison...and SWISH! That's Yao's first field goal of the game. Yao is 1-for-5 with 4 points. The Rockets tie the game 32-32. TNT analyst Mike Fratello says, "There should be a steady diet of ball in the lowpost. Let Houston play off the low post-man because Jamison will not be able to guard Yao Ming."
3:43		The next time down the floor, Yao gets the ball in the same spot, but this time guarded by Dirk Nowitzki. Yao turns baseline, dribbles twice toward the basket, then picks up his dribble. While pivoting the opposite way, Nowitzki slaps at the ball and Yao loses the grip. But Yao picks it up, then goes straight up and banks the shot off the glass over Dirk. Yao is now 2-for-6 with 6 points. The Rockets trail by one, 35-34.
2:14		From the 3-point line, Steve Francis sees Yao in the middle of the paint and throws a long, high pass to Yao over Nowitzki, who gambled on the play and jumped to try to deflect the pass. Since that takes Nowitzki out of the play, Yao gets the ball in front of the rim and easily lays it in! Incredible pass by Francis! Yao has made his last 3 shots in a row after missing his first four. The Rockets trail 42-40. Yao is 3-for-7 from the field and has 8 points.
:21.6		We rarely feature a play where Yao is not involved, but this time we will because it was so beautiful. Steve Francis drives the lane from the right side, double-pumps in mid-air between two defenders, then as he is falling almost horizontally to the ground, has the strength to still get a shot off that goes in! That was as "Jordanesque" as it gets! Nice 'home run' play by Francis, as coach Jeff Van Gundy calls these types of plays Francis has the capability to execute. The Rockets trail 42-48.
:0.1		With only 3.8 seconds left in the half, the Rockets' Jim Jackson delivers a perfect inbound pass to Yao, who is on the left edge of the paint. Without dribbling, Yao turns into the lane, takes one step, then launches a beautiful fallaway jumper that hits off the back iron, bounces high into the air, then rattles in for the bucket! After missing his first four shots, Yao is now 4-for-8 from the field. He has 10 points and 5 rebounds. Rockets trail by six points at the half, 44-50.
Halftime - Behind 6 points, Yao got off to a slow start in the first half, but redeemed himself by hitting his last four shots in a row. Francis and Mobley combined have scored only 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
3rd Quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
11:14		Yao misses a fallaway jumper, guarded by two Maverick defenders.
9:45		Cato shoots a long jumper, but Yao grabs a rebound in front of the rim and lays it in! Yao now has 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The game is tied at 53-53.
9:09		Yao shoots a leaner from the right edge of the lane over Danny Fortson, but it misses. This shot was not dunkable. Yao is 5-for-11 from the field.
6:26		Yao misses a jumper in the lane. He is 5-for-11 from the field.
3:09		Yao is replaced by Braggs. Yao is 5-for-12 from the field with 12 points.
4th quarter - At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Rockets trail 71-81. Jim Jackson has kept them in the game by scoring 11 points, including 3-for-4 from the 3-point line. Yao was 1-for-4 from the field in the quarter, scoring only 2 points.
7:59		Yao checks back into the game for Cato.
7:18		On a Mavericks fast break, Steve Nash passes the ball to Josh Howard just to the left of the basket. He goes up for a little 3-foot jump shot, but Yao comes out of nowhere to block the shot! Howard double-pumped in mid-air to try to throw off Yao's timing, but it didn't matter...Yao still blocked it! Great hustle down the court by Yao. That was his first block of the game.
3:35	Steal Assist	Nash is in the lane, and he throws a bad pass to a Maverick nowhere in the vicinity. Yao is there to pick off the pass in the middle of the lane, and in a spit-second sees Jim Jackson streaking down the floor the other way on the fast break and throws a perfect two-handed over-the-head pass to him for the easy dunk. Yao gets credit for the steal and the assist, his fourth of the game. The Rockets trail by 14 points, though, 79-93.
2:36		Yao is called for blocking on Dirk Nowitzki as he enters the lane. Van Gundy replaces Yao with Bostjan Nachbar, and concedes defeat by replacing everyone since the Rockets trail 79-97. The Rockets go on to lose 86-97. Surprisingly, Yao did not attempt a field goal in the quarter, but the game was pretty much a lost cause most of the quarter anyway. Yao finishes with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.