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Yao makes an offensive move on Utah's Greg Ostertag on his way to leading the Rockets to an 84-63 victory over the Utah Jazz in one of the Rockets' best efforts of the season. Yao had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists. (Photo courtesy AP)

1st quarter
11:38		Yao drives into the lane about 3 feet from the rim and puts a good fake on Andrei Kirilenko, who tries to block his shot, but then goes up to put up a point-blank layup and Greg Ostertag blocks it! Yao picks up the loose ball, but it's knocked out of his hands by Aleksander Pavlovic. Oh no! Is this going to be another game where the Jazz has Yao's number?
10:57		Yao gets the ball a couple of feet outside the right edge of the lane, and Andrei Kirilenko is guarding him one-on-one. Yao backs into him one step AND THEN SPINS BASELINE ON HIM SO FAST THAT KIRILENKO IS FAKED OUT AND ACTUALLY WENT THE OTHER WAY WHICH LEAVES YAO ALL BY HIMSELF FOR AN OPEN JUMP HOOK ON THE BASELINE, but Yao misses the shot. It was beautiful to see a defender get so faked out by Yao's quickness, though! Yao is now 0-for-2 from the field, and still no team has scored.
8:34		Yao comes out to the three point line on the far left side of the court and sets a pick for Francis. Francis curls around Yao's screen to get away from his man, then Yao rolls off the pick and Francis immediately bounces a pass to him. Yao picks up the bounce pass at the left edge of the painted area, takes one step, AND SLAMS IT HOME RIGHT-HANDED OVER KIRILENKO'S BLOCK ATTEMPT! WE LOVE IT! This pick-and-roll is something the Rockets ran alot last season with Yao. It's good to see it coming back more and more as this season progresses. Yao now has two points and is 1-for-3 from the field. The score is tied 4-4.
7:50		The Jazz Aleksander Pavlovic curls from the right baseline into the middle of the lane and tries to lay the ball in off the glass, but Yao follows Pavlovic the whole way and swats the ball away! That's Yao's first block of the game.
7:07		This play doesn't involve Yao, but it's worth pointing out: Francis shakes-and-bakes to the free throw line on the dribble, then pulls up what you think is going to be a jump shot, but instead IT'S AN ALLY-OOP PASS TO CATO WHO CATCHES IT AT THE RIM AND THROWS IT DOWN OVER KIRILENKO WITH AN EMPHATIC GRUNT! The Rockets have been running the ally-oop much more frequently over the past couple of weeks, and for good reason! It's high percentage since they run it so well like they did last season!
6:35		With his back facing the basket, Yao receives the ball on the right edge of the lane about 4 feet below the free throw line, and he is guarded one-on-one by Greg Ostertag. Yao fakes right, then spins quickly to his left toward the baseline leaving Ostertag out of position, squares up toward the basket and while his body is moving sideways due to the momentum of his quick spin move, he launches a jumper that banks off the glass and swishes through the basket! Incredible quickness and touch by the Big Man! Yao is now 2-for-4 from the floor with 4 points! The Rockets lead 12-6.
5:28		Yao misses a long hook shot from the left baseline. He is now 2-for-5 with 4 points.
5:08		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 18-17. The Rockets shot 9-for-19 from the field. Yao has 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting. Yao does not start the second quarter.
11:05		Yao checks into the game for Kelvin Cato. The Rockets lead 21-20.
9:03		From the left sideline behind the three-point line, Jim Jackson throws a pass too high to Maurice Taylor into the post and the ball sails over his head, but the ball bounces over on the other side of the lane and almost goes out of bounds BEFORE YAO SAVES IT BY BATTING IT TO HIMSELF. WITH HIS BACK FACING THE BASKET ALONG THE RIGHT BASELINE, YAO THEN QUICKLY FAKES TO HIS RIGHT, THEN TURNS TO HIS LEFT AND GOES UP FOR A FALLAWAY JUMPER OVER PAUL GRANT AND SINKS IT! That was a heads-up play by Yao to save the errant pass before it went out of bounds, and then to improvise a shot. We have seen that Yao is almost at his best when he has to do things quickly and instinctively! Yao is 3-for-6 from the field with 6 points. The Rockets lead 23-20.
6:26		Yao gets the ball about 3 feet outside the left edge of the lane about halfway between the baseline and free throw line. With his back to the basket and posting up Greg Ostertag, Yao bounces the ball once toward his left, then turns the other way toward the baseline and launches a fallaway jumper AND HITS IT! He has now hit 4 of his last 5 shots! Yao is 4-for-7 from the field with 8 points. The Rockets lead 31-20.
4:46	Assist	From the three-point line, Francis throws a pass to Yao about 3 feet outside the left edge of the lane guarded by Ostertag once again. Francis drives past his man Carlos Arroyo into the lane AND YAO DELIVES A PERFECT ONE-HANDED PASS TO FRANCIS ON THE RUN AND FRANCIS LAYS IT IN ONE-HANDED OFF THE GLASS AS HE CRASHES TO THE FLOOR! We haven't seen that play in awhile! It reminds us of the classic Stockton and Malone give-and-go plays Utah ran for so many years! The Rockets now lead 35-22.
2:42		On a pick-and-roll, Yao sets a screen for Francis at the three-point line, then Yao rolls away from Francis about 17-feet away from the basket where he is standing all by his lonesome. Yao then stops, squares up AND LAUNCHES A LONG BOMB, AND HE NAILS IT! Yao is on fire tonight hitting 5 of his last 6 shots, and he is now 5-for-8 with 10 points. The Rockets lead 41-29!
1:28		Kirilenko drives to the basket and tries to put up a shot at point-blank range, but Yao has good position and gets credit for a block although Cato was trailing Kirilenko nicely and may have gotten a hand on it. Yao is given credit for a block, though.
0:26.8		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor with 10 points. The Rockets lead is 41-31. He is 5-for-8 from the field with 10 points.
0:03		Yao checks back into the game on the final Rockets' possession of the quarter. This is a rare move for Van Gundy to use Yao like this. Usually when he checks out of the game near the end of the quarter, he won't come back until the next quarter. Van Gundy must really want the points on this possession. The Rockets do end up scoring a point after Cuttino Mobley is fouled by Carlos Arroyo and makes 1-of-2 free throws.
0:00		Yao blocks a shot of Oestertag's from the free throw line area, but the block occurred after the buzzer. It was nice to see Yao block Ostertag, though! Yao did it all this quarter!
Halftime - At the end of the second quarter, the Rockets lead 42-33. Houston shot 50% from the floor, wheras Utah only shot 41%. The Rockets are also rebounding better, holding a 19-14 advantage, and only have 6 turnovers. The Houston bench is also playing well, outscoring the Jazz 17-12 with Maurice Taylor having 12 of those bench points. Yao has 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting along with two blocks.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
10:36		Jim Jackson runs into the lane and puts up a jump hook that's short. The ball bounces off the front of the rim and Yao, who is standing in front of the rim, reaches waaaaayy back to tip the rebound up and to himself. After he gets both hands on it, THREE JAZZ PLAYERS (Ostertag, Kirilenko and Pavlovic) ARE AROUND HIM AND AS YAO GOES UP IMMEDIATELY FOR A FALLAWAY SHOT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE, THEY ALL TRY TO SWAT IT AWAY. BUT THEY DON'T SUCCEED AS THE BALL HEADS TOWARD THE BASKET, BOUNCES OFF THE BACK RIM, THEN OFF THE GLASS, AND THEN INTO THE BUCKET FOR THE DEUCE! Yao is now 6-for-9 from the field with 12 points, and the Rockets lead 44-36.
8:19		Yao is battling for good offensive position with Greg Ostertag on the left edge of the lane. Jim Jackson has the ball at the three-point line and throws a perfect leading pass to Yao, who catches it at a great angle so that all he has to do is jump up and lay it in off the glass! Yao is now 7-for-10 from the field with 14 points. The Rockets lead 48-42.
6:14		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane guarded by Ostertag. Yao then turns around and shoots a fadeaway jumper, and he misses! Yao is now 7-for-11 from the field with the Rockets leading 53-45.
4:15	Assist	On a pick-and-roll, Yao sets a screen for Mobley on the left side of the court, then Mobley drives toward the free throw line and draws three defenders to him which leaves Yao open about 5 feet away from the basket. Mobley then whips a high pass to Yao, who reaches for it but has to tip it to gain control. By the time he gets control, Kirilenko has had time to come over from the weak side to get in between Yao and the basket. Seeing that Kirilenko has left his man (Cato) wide open, and hearing Cato yell out that he's open and wants the ball, YAO DISHES TO CATO ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE RIM AND CATO JAMS IT HOME! That's Yao's second assist. As Yao and Cato run up the floor, they are both smiling toward each other (which is very rare to see) because of the communication they had executing that play. It looks like they are both having fun out there! They should be since the Rockets now lead 59-47.
3:57		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. The Rockets lead 59-47, and Yao is 7-for-11 from the field with 14 points.
4th quarter - At the end of three quarters, the Rockets lead 66-56. Steve Francis had a breakout quarter, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. The Rockets outscored the Jazz 24-23 in the quarter, and both teams shot 50% from the field in that quarter. Yao starts the fourth quarter.
11:27		Yao gets the ball about 3 feet outside the right edge of the lane, and is guarded one-on-one by Paul Grant. Yao dribbles once, then spins baseline and shoots a right-handed hook shot over Grant...and COUNT IT! Yao is 8-for-12 with 16 points, and the Rockets now lead 68-56.
10:18		Yao is called for an offensive foul down low where Jarron Collins flopped somewhat. The referees bought it, and Yao is called for his fourth foul.
10:06		A few seconds later on the defensive end, Yao is called for a defensive foul on Collins, which gives Yao his fifth foul. Yao can't believe it and has a look of disgust on his face. As Yao checks out of the game for Cato, both of them are smiling at each other again! This is funny to watch two normally stoic players on the court having such a good time (it must be an 'inside joke' between the two)! We like it though! After Collins makes 1-of-2 free throws, the Rockets lead 68-59.
7:00		While Yao is on the bench, Francis has the ball for an entire offensive possession (21 seconds) without being able to get the ball to anyone. Luckily for Francis, he launches a long three-pointer from the top of the arc with 3 seconds on the shot clock AND IT GOES IN! The crowd roars, and Yao lowers his head in amazement and is seen laughing then lets out a big "whew!" since Francis made that possession so tantalizing!
0:00		Yao does not return the rest of the game, but the Rockets didn't need him as they cruised to an 84-63 win over their big rivals from Utah. During the time Yao was out for Cato, Cato picked up 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks. Yao finishes the game with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists.