YaoMingMania.com

Yao shoots a fallaway over Sacramento's Vlade Divac on Sunday afternoon in Houston. "Falling away" describes the Rockets well these days, as they lost their fourth straight game 99-94. Yao scored 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field, but it wasn't enough to overcome more mistakes by Steve Francis. To see more photos from the game, click here. (Photo courtesy AP).

1st quarter
10:05		Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane and is guarded one-on-one by Vlade Divac. Yao then dribbles once into the lane, sweeps deeper into the lane by taking two big steps toward the basket, and lays it in over Divac! Yao ties the game at 4-4.
9:49		Yao gets the ball at the top of the key, squares up and DRILLS IT FROM 21 FEET! That's the first time in awhile we have seen him make it from that spot. Yao is now 2-for-2 from the field with 4 points. The Rockets lead 6-5.
8:39		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane, then pivots toward the baseline and launches a fallaway jump shot over Divac, but it misses short. Yao is now 2-for-3 from the field.
8:27	Good defense!	Chris Webber drives down the right edge of the lane, and Yao slides over to establish position just outside the semicircle in front of the rim. Webber proceeds to run into Yao, who goes flying backward toward the court, and Webber is called for charging! ABC commentator Sean Elliott says, "He (Yao) got hit by a bus!"
7:53		Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane, and he quickly turns toward the basket and puts up a shot, but it's blocked by Vlade! At first, Sean Elliott says, "Yao Ming's got to explode (to get higher off the ground). He's got to get off the ground. All Vlade did was put his hand up." But after looking at the replay and seeing that Vlade had his hand on Yao's waist, he says, "Vlade is just clever. Look at his hand down there. Pulling down Yao Ming!" Yao is now 2-for-4 from the field with 4 points. The Rockets lead 10-5.
6:23		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane, dribbles the ball once into the lane, makes a jump step, then elevates toward the rim which pushes Vlade backwards, and the ball goes in! Yao is now 3-for-5 from the field with 6 points, and the Rockets lead 14-7.
5:27		After Mike Bibby misses a three-pointer in the right corner, Yao chases down a long rebound close to the right sideline, then throws a pass to Cuttino Mobley who is streaking up the court but not looking back at Yao. The loose ball comes to Doug Christie, who picks up the ball around the halfcourt line, dribbles to the top of the key and drains a jumper! That turnover hurt! The Rockets now lead 16-11.
3:31		As Maurice Taylor passes the ball from the top of the key to Yao in the middle of the lane, Yao is leaning back on Vlade to establish position. But Vlade moves away from Yao as he starts leaning backwards (a.k.a. "pulling the chair"), and while Yao is falling backward directly underneath the rim he tries to put up a quick no-look shot rather than incur the turnover. Unfortunately, the ball clangs off the bottom of the rim. Yao is now 3-for-6 from the field with 6 points. The Rockets still lead by five points, 20-15.
3:04		Yao checks out of the game for Clarence Weatherspoon with 6 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field. He also has 3 rebounds (all defensive).
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets lead 24-23. Houston had jumped out to a 16-9 lead, but then Sacramento outscored Houston 14-8. The best shooter for the Rockets was Yao (3-for-6). The worst shooter was Francis (1-for-4). Yao starts the second quarter.
9:43		After Sacramento has gone on a 9-0 run to take a 32-24 lead, Yao gets the ball about 4 feet outside the left edge of the lane, dribbles twice, then takes two big steps into the middle of the lane, elevates off his left foot and leans in toward the basket, and puts up a running hook shot with the right hand over Divac, and it's good! That was a tough play to make! Yao is now 4-for-7 from the field with 8 points, and the Rockets now trail 32-26.
8:15		Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane, takes a step into the lane, jumps and shoots a 9-foot jumper over Vlade, and it's good! Yao is now 5-for-8 from the field. The Rockets trail 30-36.
4:49		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. The game is tied 41-41.
3:05		Yao checks back into the game for Eric Piatkowski. The Kings lead 43-41..
1:47		Maurice Taylor bounces the ball to Yao on the right edge of the lane, and Yao quickly spins away from the middle of the lane and puts up a right-handed hook shot over Vlade, and it's good again! Yao is now 6-for-9 from the field with 12 points, and the Rockets lead 47-43.
:52		Yao checks out of the game for Clarence Weatherspoon. The Rockets still lead 47-43.
:05		With the Rockets having the final possession of the half, Yao checks back into the game for Clarence Weatherspoon. The Rockets lead 49-46.
:02.5	Free Throw	With only 5.5 seconds on the shot clock, the Rockets get the ball into Yao in the middle of the lane, and Yao is being guarded one-on-one by Vlade. With his back to the basket, Yao then fakes left, which throws off Vlade, and then he spins right, elevates directly underneath the rim, IS FOULED BY VLADE, AND YAO LAYS IT IN FOR THE DEUCE! Yao pumps his fist and screams, "Yeah!" Vlade is so frustrated that he let Yao score just before halftime, he slams the ball down to the floor and is called for a technical! And of course, the Houston crowd is going nuts! Yao then goes to the line and makes the penalty free throw, and he now has 15 points (7-for-10 from the floor and 1-for-1 from the line). The Rockets lead 53-46.
Halftime - At the end of the second quarter, the Rockets hold a 7-point lead (53-46) after being outscored 9-0 at the beginning of the quarter and trailing at one time by 8 points. This 15-point swing in the second quarter can be attributed to Yao, who scored 9 points in the quarter (4-for-4 from the field) and Cuttino Mobley (7 points on 3-of-6 shooting; 12 points overall). Their great shooting helped the Rockets shoot 13-for-23 from the field in the quarter. Now the question is: "Can the Rockets put the struggling Kings away?"
3rd Quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
11:27		Yao spots up for a long jumper from about 21 feet, but he misses. Yao is now 7-for-11 from the field. The Rockets lead 53-48.
10:47		Maurice Taylor gets underneath the basket and draws all of the defense to him as he prepares to put up a shot, but then he dishes to Yao who is standing in front of the rim. Yao is surprised by the pass but is able to gather it in. He then elevates and puts up a shot, but he doesn't really get off a good shot since Vlade brought his arm down on Yao's arm, and no foul is called! Yao is now 7-for-12 from the field. The Rockets still lead 53-50.
8:04		Yao gets the ball in the middle of the paint, but he is stripped by Chris Webber as he is going up for the shot. But Yao is still able to regain possession of the ball while in mid-air, and puts up a tough shot before he touches the ground, and the shot misses. Yao is now 7-for-13 from the field, and the Rockets still lead 58-52.
7:43		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane and turns into the lane and puts up a difficult, off-balance shot as he leans toward the glass over Vlade, but he misses again. It seems like Yao made that shot more difficult than it had to be. He is now 7-for-14 from the field, and the Rockets lead is now down to four points, 58-54.
7:11		Yao gets the ball at the top of the key, squares up and pump fakes to get Doug Christie to fly past him, then takes two steps forward and launches a jumper from inside the key, but he misses. The Rockets still lead 58-54.
1:55		Yao checks out of the game for Scott Padgett. Yao has missed his last 5 shots and is now 7-for-15 from the field with 15 points. The Rockets trail 62-74 as the Kings have gone on a 24-4 run.
4th Quarter - At the end of three quarters, the Rockets trail 68-78. The Kings outscored the Rockets 32-15 in the quarter and went on a 28-5 run to lead at one time by 15 points. Peja Stojakovic scored 13 points in the quarter on 5-of-7 shooting, including two difficult fadeaway 3-pointers.
8:08		Yao checks into the game for Clarence Weatherspoon. Thankfully in the fourth quarter thus far Jim Jackson (2 points) and Rockets' reserves Weatherspoon (2 points), Padgett (2 points), and Piatkowski (3 points) have put Houston on a 9-2 run to close the Rockets' deficit to 77-80.
7:16		Yao gets the ball along the right edge of the lane and spins toward the baseline, but he misses! That is Yao's sixth miss in a row! He is now 7-for-16 from the field with 15 points. But the Rockets only trail 79-82.
4:37	Free Throws	Since Yao's last shot attempt, Scott Padgett has hit two three-pointers to give the Rockets an 85-84 lead! With the Houston crowd energized, Yao gets the ball about 3 feet outside the right edge of the lane, spins toward the baseline with Chris Webber guarding him, but them pump fakes to get Webber to bump into him for the foul. That was a smart play considering how Yao has been struggling from the field his past six shot. So Webber's foul gives Yao two free throw attempts, which he makes. Houston now leads 87-84 after going on an 8-0 run. Yao has 17 points on 3-of-3 shooting from the free throw line, and is 7-for-16 from the field.
3:42		Francis dishes the ball to Yao from outside the lane near the right elbow. Yao catches the pass about 10 feet away from the basket as he is cutting down the middle of the lane, then takes one big step toward the hoop, jumps off his right leg, elevates and THROWS IT DOWN OVER DOUG CHRISTIE WITH THE RIGHT-HAND! The amount of ground Yao covered in one step for that dunk was incredible! He used all of his size on that one! The Rockets now lead 89-86, and Yao is 8-for-17 from the field with 19 points.
3:16		Yao gets the ball on the right edge of the lane, then turns strong into the lane on Chris Webber. He then elevates and puts a shot off the glass, but he misses. Yao seemed to hesitate on that shot. However, he gets the rebound and goes up for a put-back, but the ball is stripped by Webber. Yao is now 8-for-18 from the floor, but the Rockets still lead 89-88.
2:05		The Rockets trail 91-89...and on almost an exact carbon copy of the previous play, Yao gets the ball just inside the right edge of the lane, then turns strong toward the hoop over Webber and puts it up on the rim and it drops through for the score! That ties the game at 91-91! Yao is now 9-for-19 from the floor with 21 points.
1:38	Turnovers	After the Kings turn the ball over on a backcourt violation due to great defense by the Rockets, Yao gets the ball a couple of feet outside the left edge of the lane guarded by Chris Webber. However, Webber is able to knock the ball out of Yao's hands from behind. The ball is headed out of bounds so Yao decides not to chase after it, probably because he would not be able to save it given his large size. However, Mike Bibby runs over to save the ball from going out of bounds and knocks it back into play off of Yao's foot. Yao dives to the floor to grab the loose ball, but Chris Webber is able to pick it up for the steal. Looking at the replay, it was a close play on whether Bibby was out of bounds when he knocked the ball back inbounds. It's debatable if it was a legitimate steal. There wasn't much harm, though, since the Kings end up turning the ball over themselves on the ensuing possession. A few minutes later during a break in the action, both Jeff Van Gundy and Cuttino Mobley are both instructing Yao to hold the ball closer to his chest so players like Webber cannot knock it out from behind.
1:38	Francis Free Throws	Francis picks up the loose ball the Kings just turned over and dribbles it coast-to-coast and is fouled by Mike Bibby when he tries to spin into the lane. That means Francis goes to the line for two free throws. Wouldn't you know it, he makes the first, BUT MISSES THE SECOND! The Rockets are now up 92-91.
1:11		The Kings score on the next possession on a Peja Stojakovic layup down the middle of the lane. That puts the Kings up 93-92.
1:02		With the Rockets needing a bucket, Steve Francis dribbles the ball down the court, doesn't pass the ball to anyone, comes around a pick, and with 18 seconds on the shot-clock puts up a 21-foot jump shot that clangs off the iron and goes over the backboard. Kings ball. What kind of shot was that?
:53		Chris Webber drains a 16-foot jump shot to put the Kings up 95-92.
:41		Steve Francis dribbles into the lane and as Yao is moving into the lane from the free throw line, Francis drops the ball off to Yao. This was a bad decision because Yao is moving fast into the lane and he's still about 10 feet away from the basket, so Yao has to do something wild to get around Webber and put up a decent shot. Yao does a good job pivoting in the lane around Webber and getting close to the basket, but the refs call him for traveling. That's bogus! I think the refs got influenced by Chris Webber trying to coax the officials into calling it by motioning the travel call. Yao is very upset at the call, and for good reason: the replay shows he didn't travel. Even if the traveling call was legitimate, though, Francis' judgment in these late-game situations is suspect, as ABC analyst Dan Majerle sums up well, "The last two plays have been kind of questionable. Francis coming off the pick missing the shot (in the prior possession), and Francis penetrating giving the Big Man the ball in a BAD position where he is running down the lane with the bounce pass, he (Yao) has to gather his feet, just a BAD play because Yao being so big, it's so hard for a big man to handle that pass."
:13		Still trailing 95-92, Francis grabs a defensive rebound after a missed Chris Webber layup attempt. Francis dribbles the ball the entire length of the court and rather than call timeout or try a three-pointer (like he did in Milwaukee last week in a similar situation) that could tie it, Francis takes it into the lane (lucky not to be called for a palming violation), goes up for a layup and MISSES IT! The ball goes out of bounds off the Rockets (even though it went off the Kings), and the game is virtually over. The Rockets go on to lose 99-94. Yao finishes the game with 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting and 10 rebounds.