YaoMingMania.com

Yao contests a shot by Dallas' Scott Williams on Saturday night. Unfortunately for Houston, the Rockets lost once again to Dallas 97-88 despite jumping to a 19-3 lead in the first quarter. Yao scored 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting. To see more photos from the game, click here and here. (Photo courtesy AP).

1st quarter
11:41		Yao makes a 5-foot hook shot in the lane. He is 1-for-1 from the field and scores the Rockets first points. They lead 2-0. [I was not able to see this play nor the next two plays, so I am not able to describe them in detail].
11:08		Yao misses a jumper. He is now 1-for-2 from the field.
11:03		Yao makes a 5-foot jumper in the lane. Yao is now 2-for-3 from the field for 4 points. The Rockets lead 4-0.
9:37		Yao gets the ball outside the right edge of the lane and is guarded one-on-one by 6'10" center Scott Williams. Very quickly Michael Finley comes over from the free throw line area to double-team him, so Yao spins toward the baseline away from Finley, dribbles once and launches a fadeaway baseline jumper that is impossible for Williams to block, and BANG! Yao is hot, making 3-of-4 shots for 6 points to put the Rockets ahead 11-0!
9:28	Intimidation!	Antoine Walker penetrates toward the bucket on the left side and Yao is there to force Walker to pass off to Scott Williams, who is on the left side of the bucket. Williams goes up for what looks like will be a point-blank layup, BUT YAO QUICKLY SWITCHES AND IS ABLE TO GET A HAND UP TO MAKE WILLIAMS ALTER HIS SHOT SIGNIFICANTLY TO MISS THE SHOT! It actually looked like Yao blocked the shot, but wasn't given credit for it. Note: This play is pictured above.
6:59		Yao gets the ball just outside the right edge of the lane and he is being guarded by 7'6" center Shawn Bradley. Yao pump fakes to get Bradley into the air, THEN DRIVES AROUND BRADLEY TO THE BASKET AND GOES UP FOR A TWO-HANDED JAM, but Bradley gets a hand on the ball from behind just as Yao is about to stuff it, and the ball bounces out as Yao is making the jam. Watching the replay, it looks like Bradley caught Yao's head with his left arm as he went up from behind to contest the shot, but no foul was called. It's tough to tell if a foul should have been called since it all happened so quickly for the ref to catch, but it was nice to see Yao be aggressive like that! The Rockets still lead 19-3, but it would have been nice for the Rockets to pad the lead as much as possible since you know the Mavericks are going to make a run sometime during the game.
5:53		Yao misses short a left-handed hook shot from the left baseline over Shawn Bradley. Those left-handers are tough! Yao is now 3-for-6 from the field.
4:49		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. Yao has 6 points on 3-of-6 shooting. The Rockets lead 19-3. Neither the Rockets or the Mavericks have scored in 3 minutes of play.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 30-16 despite having 8 turnovers. The Rockets shot 54% from the field but were actually shooting much better before they hit a cold spell (1 of 10 shots). The Mavericks only shot 27%, which is very unusual. Nowitzki, Nash and Finley were 0-for-8 combined in the first 9 minutes of the quarter and 2-for-10 overall. Also, the Mavericks uncharacteristically had 6 turnovers in the first quarter. They only average 12 for an entire game.
10:13		Yao checks back into the game for Clarence Weatherspoon. The Rockets lead 30-17.
8:57		From the left side of the court, Josh Howard passes to Antawn Jamison who is cutting toward the basket for a layup. As Jamison goes up for his shot, but Yao comes over to help and block it off the glass! The Rockets still lead 36-22.
3:39		As Yao is coming into the front court to get set up for an offensive possession, Eduardo Najera sees Yao coming and decides to step in his way realizing there's a chance Yao will run into him and he can pick up a charging call on Yao. So Najera steps in his way at the last second and gets Yao to run into him, and Najera flops to draw the charge! What a friggin' SLIMEBALL! I've always hated that guy! I wish Yao had SPEEDED UP and bumped Najera into East Dallas! Put Najera up there with John Stockton, Karl Malone and Mark Madsen on the all-time flop list!
2:56		Steve Francis drives down the left edge of the lane, goes up, then drops a pass off to Yao around Scott Williams. Yao goes straight up and shoots a right-handed jump shot off the glass for the score! Houston is trying to hold off the hard-charging Mavericks. They still lead 46-40. Yao is now 4-for-7 with 8 points.
Halftime - At the end of the second quarter, the Rockets lead 51-47. The Mavericks actually took the lead in the quarter 40-39 after going on a 24-9 run. The Rockets and Mavericks both have the same number of turnovers (9) and assists (12). The Mavericks have 13 fast break points (key to making their comeback) compared to zero for the Rockets. Former Maverick Jim Jackson has 14 points, and Cuttino Mobley has 12 points. Both players have made 4-of-7 three-pointers.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
10:40		As Yao gets set up in the lane, Scott Williams flops on Yao to draw a charge when Yao hardly touched him! C'MON REFS (NAMELY STEVE JAVIE. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT JAVIE. I'M CALLING YOU OUT)!!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU FALLING FOR THESE FLOPS!!! THAT'S TWICE IN THIS GAME!!! TERRIBLE!!!! YAO IS FURIOUS!! HE RAISES BOTH ARMS AND WALKS OVER TO THE REF TO TELL HIM WHAT'S UP!!!
10:07		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane on Scott Williams, and Yao just spins toward the baseline on him and launches a 10-foot fallaway and hits another one! Williams couldn't flop on that one! Yao is now 5-for-8 from the field, and the score is tied 54-54.
7:22	4th foul	Yao comes out to the three-point line along the sideline to help guard against Steve Nash, who starts penetrating toward the basket, and Yao fouls him. Now THAT foul was legitimate, and Yao acknowledges by raising his hand that he shouldn't have been trying to keep up with Nash the 'waterbug.' That's Yao's fourth foul, so he has to check out of the game for Maurice Taylor. The Rockets trail 56-61.
4th quarter - At the end of three quarters, the Mavericks lead 78-66 after outscoring Houston 31-15 in the third quarter. The Rockets only shot 5-for-17 in the quarter whereas Dallas shot 12-for-23 from the floor. The Rockets have only scored 36 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters combined.
10:53		Yao checks back into the game for Maurice Taylor.
10:15	Assist	Yao gets the ball at the free throw line, THEN QUICKLY PUMP FAKES WHICH TOTALLY FAKES OUT ANTOINE WALKER WHO WENT AIRBORNE TO TRY TO CONTEST THE SHOT. YAO THEN DRIBBLES AROUND WALKER AND WITH HIS RIGHT HAND DISHES TO WEATHERSPOON WHO IS STANDING UNDERNEATH THE BASKET ALL ALONE AND WEATHERSPOON SOFTLY DUNKS IT FOR THE SCORE! WHAT MOBILITY, VISION AND GREAT PASSING SKILLS SHOWN BY YAO IN THE SAME PLAY!
7:31		Yao checks out of the game for Scott Padgett. The Mavericks lead 89-73. Down by 16 points, it seems a little too early to be checking Yao out of the game at this moment. Remember the Atlanta game when they made that great comeback?
5:23		With the Rockets still down by 17 points (75-92), Yao checks back into the game for Padgett. Why did Van Gundy check Yao out of the game a couple of minutes ago? They might have been able to make a run with him. Now it will be even more difficult with only about 5 minutes remaining in the game.
5:14		Yao gets the ball in the middle of the lane, then quickly turns and makes a straight-up jumper. Yao is now 6-for-9 from the field with 12 points. The Rockets trail 77-92.
3:23		Trailing 92-80 and trying to make a run, Yao gets the ball just outside the left edge of the lane and is guarded by Dirk Nowitzki. Yao faces up on Dirk, then pump fakes to get him up in the air, then dribbles around him (like he did earlier on Bradley), dribbles once into the lane, takes two giant steps toward the rim, elevates AND THROWS IT DOWN WITH THE RIGHT-HAND OVER SCOTT WILLIAMS!!!! AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT A LITTLE DUNK FROM UNDERNEATH THE RIM, BUT A DUNK WHERE HE JUMPED FOUR FEET AWAY FROM THE HOOP! AS HE LANDS, YAO GIVES A BRIEF STARE TO WILLIAMS, ALMOST SAYING WITH HIS LOOK SOMETHING LIKE, "DON'T FLOP ANY MORE ON ME, LITTLE MAN!!" This is the kind of dunk you would expect from Kenyon Martin or Tracy McGrady, not Yao Ming! We love how Yao tonight is pump faking and driving to the rack and throwing them down! He is now 7-for-10 from the field with 14 points, and has made his last 4 shots. The Rockets trail 82-92.
1:52		Trailing 84-94, the Mavericks have the ball. Nash penetrates into the lane and dishes off to Josh Howard, who is standing in front of the rim. Howard goes up for a shot, but Yao stuffs it back in his face underneath the rim! That's Yao's second block of the game, and the Rockets have a small chance of coming back.
:31		The Rockets trail 88-94, and Yao fouls Nash intentionally to try to stop the game and send the Mavericks into a free throw shooting contest. Unfortunately, the Rockets cannot hit some shots down the stretch to make it interesting, and the Rockets lose 97-88. Yao finishes with 14 points (7-of-10 shooting), 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in 31 minutes of play.