YaoMingMania.com

One of the tallest players in the league, Yao at 7'6", stands next to the shortest player, 5'5" Earl Boykins of the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. The Rockets blew a big lead to the Nuggets, losing in the final seconds 95-94. Yao finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. (Photo courtesy AP)

1st quarter
10:45		Yao gets the ball from Jim Jackson a couple of feet outside the right edge of the lane. Yao then pump fakes on Denver center Nene Hilario (which gets Nene to bite), then bounces the ball once and DRIVES PAST NENE, THEN ELEVATES OFF HIS LEFT FOOT AND JAMS IT HOME RIGHT-HANDED FOR THE SLAM! YAO SHOWED AGGRESSIVENESS ON THAT ONE! The crowd gasps in amazement while Boki Nachbar rises from the bench clapping to applaud his good friend! Yao is 1-for-1 from the field, and the Rockets lead 4-0.
10:19		Francis drives down the center of the lane, then throws a behind-the-back no-look pass to Cato, who drives to the hoop and puts up a Michael Jordan-esque double-clutch reverse layup off the glass! The crowd oohs and ahhs for the second straight Rocket play! We have never ever seen Cato score like that, and probably never will again! Yao wasn't involved in this play, but we had to mention it. The Rockets lead 6-0.
8:28		Yao gets the ball in the middle of the lane, guarded one-on-one by Nene. Yao immediately goes up for a jump hook, but misses. Those jumps hooks are not as reliable as we would like right now. Yao is 1-for-2 from the field with 2 points. The Rockets lead 10-0, though.
7:01		From the left side of the court, Mo Taylor drives into the lane, elevates and draws two defenders to him, then at the last instant dishes off to Yao who is standing on the left baseline. Yao quickly gathers in the pass and lays it off the glass for the score! That was a beautiful drive by Taylor! Yao is now 2-for-3 from the field, and the Rockets are dominating 14-2!
5:37		Yao checks out of the game for Scott Padgett. Yao has 4 points on 2-of-3 shooting. The Rockets lead 16-6.
1:08		Yao checks back into the game for Padgett. The Rockets lead 25-14.
:17		Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane, then spins baseline on Francisco Elson and goes up underneath the rim to try a reverse layup, but Elson does a good job of crowding Yao. Yao's rhythm is thrown off by Elson pinning Yao on the baseline, so when Yao shoots the layup, he hits the bottom of the rim! Yao grabs the rebound, though, and when he puts up a jump hook in front of the rim, Elson blocks it emphatically! How did Elson do that? Although he's 7-feet tall, I've rarely seen anyone be able to block Yao's jump hook; maybe that's one of the reasons why the Nuggets lead the NBA in blocks per game. Of course, the Denver crowd is going bonkers! This was not one of Yao's best sequences. Yao is now 2-for-5 from the field with 4 points.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 27-19. The Rockets had a 23-8 lead earlier in the quarter, but then the Nuggets came storming back and went on an 11-2 run before Moochie Norris hit a tough baseline jumper at the buzzer. Yao has 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting and does not start the second quarter.
6:31		Yao checks back into the game for Maurice Taylor, who has been playing well scoring 12 points. The Rockets lead 37-28.
5:38	Assist	Yao is battling hard for position in the lane, and he gets the ball at the left edge of the lane. Yao bulls his way backwards a couple of feet, then spots Mobley all by himself at the three-point line and whips a pass to him. Mobley then calmly spots up and drains the three-pointer! That was excellent court awareness by Yao, and a perfect pass to him. The Rockets now lead 40-28.
3:40		Nene tries a jump hook over Yao along the left baseline, but Yao easily rejects it for his first block of the game.
2:36		Yao gets the ball along the left edge of the lane, then dribbles to the center of the lane and puts up a hook shot over the outstretched hands of Nene, and SCORE IT! The Rockets lead 47-31, and Yao is 3-for-6 from the field with 6 points.
1:21		Yao checks out of the game for Taylor with the Rockets leading 49-33. Yao has 6 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field.
Halftime - At the end of the second quarter, the Rockets lead 51-37. The Nuggets are only shooting 35.7% from the field (1-for-8 from three-point territory), while Houston is shooting 49%. Maurice Taylor and Cuttino Mobley have 12 points each, and Francis has 11 points and only one turnover. The Rockets are out-rebounding Denver 28-20. When the Rockets are leading at halftime, their record is an amazing 13-2.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
11:29		Yao gets the ball along the right edge of the lane, guarded one-on-one by Nene. Yao then quickly spins baseline and shoots a fallaway jumper along the right baseline, and HE SWISHES IT! The Rockets now lead 53-37, and Yao is 4-for-7 from the field with 8 points.
9:30		Yao misses a jump hook on the right edge of the lane. Yao is 4-for-8 from the field with 8 points.
5:44		The Nuggets have gone on a big 15-4 run, helped by Carmelo Anthony going crazy offensively, and they now only trail 53-60. Yao gets the ball a couple of feet outside the left edge of the lane, and is immediately double-teamed. Yao then turns baseline and puts up a shot about 5 feet away from the rim, but Denver's Chris Andersen leaps high to reject his shot! Andersen looked like one of those guys in football who lines up 10 feet behind the line of scrimmage to get a running start to jump and time a block of a field goal kicker's kick. The crowd responds and is fired up! Yao is 4-for-9 from the field with 8 points.
4:15	Assist	A few minutes later, Yao is in the exact same position as the play directly above. But rather than give Andersen the chance to get a running start again, this time Yao looks for an open man, and sees Mobley behind the three-point line and passes the ball to him. Mobley calmly spots up and drains the three-pointer! Give another assist to Yao! That's a big bucket to extend the lead to 67-59, and great adaption by Yao to the players who are trying to defend him.
4:01		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor.
2:37		Yao checks back into the game for Kelvin Cato.
4th quarter - At the end of three quarters, the Rockets' 14 point lead is now only 72-70, which is how much the Rockets led the Lakers by the previous evening. Carmelo Anthony, who scored 22 points in the third quarter, has gone off.
11:29		Nene tries to spin toward the hoop on Yao and lay it up off the glass, but Yao is there to block him again! That is Yao's second block of the game
10:34		Maurice Taylor drives toward the hoop and misses a dunk shot, but Yao picks up the loose ball, twists while jumping up and hooks a shot toward the basket and it goes in! That was an important shot since the Rockets are trying to hold off the hard-charging Nuggets. The Rockets now lead 77-70, and Yao is 5-for-10 from the field with 10 points.
8:26		Yao misses a jump hook on the right edge of the lane. He is now 5-for-11 from the field.
7:36		Yao checks out of the game for Cato. Yao has 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting. The Rockets lead 79-76.
3:32		Yao checks into the game for Cato. The Rockets lead 87-85.
2:35		The score is tied 87-87, and the Rockets need points in the worst way. Yao gets the ball along the left edge of the lane, guarded one-on-one by Nene, then spins into the middle of the lane and puts up a tough fallaway hook shot AND HE MAKES IT! Yao scores a big bucket to put the Rockets up 89-97. He now has 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
1:45		Steve Francis is fouled behind the 3-point line by Earl Boykins. With the Rockets up 89-87, Francis has a chance to build a big 5-point lead by shooting 3 free throws. However, he misses the last free throw, so the Rockets lead 91-87.
:17		The Rockets lead 93-92, and Francis is fouled by Andre Miller. Francis can build a 3-point lead, assuring the worst thing that can happen to the Rockets is overtime. HOWEVER FRANCIS MISSES THE FIRST FREE THROW SHORT OFF THE RIM. Houston radio play-by-play man Gene Peterson says, "It wasn't even close." After Francis makes the second, the Rockets only a 94-92 lead. Yao checks out of the game for Moochie Norris.
:08		The Nuggets try a 3-pointer, but they miss and the rebound comes down to Francis, BUT FRANCIS CAN'T HOLD ON AND THE BALL SLIPS OUT OF HIS HANDS AND HEADS TOWARD VOSHON LENARD BEHIND THE 3-POINT LINE. MOBLEY RUNS AFTER HIM BUT STUPIDLY FOULS LENARD, WHICH GIVES HIM A CHANCE TO SHOOT 3 FREE THROWS TO TAKE THE LEAD. LENARD MAKES ALL 3 FREE THROWS. The Rockets trail 94-95 and go on to lose a heartbreaker. Yao finishes with 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.