Yao shoots a hook shot over the Spurs’ Rasho Nesterovic Sunday in San Antonio. Yao scored 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Unfortunately for the Rockets, the Tim Duncan-less Spurs mandhandled Houston in the fourth quarter, winning 83-70. Click here for more photos from the game.

by Chia-Chi and John

SUNDAY, 3/27/05 – Chia-Chi: Today’s game against the Spurs was an important one as the final weeks before the playoffs wind down and the top teams vie for home court advantage. The Rockets have the second-best record in the league after January 1st and the Spurs have the best overall. With Tim Duncan injured and the Spurs faltering, the time seemed ripe for the Rockets to finally win against the Spurs on the road.

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Yao tries to swat New Orleans’ Jamaal Magloire shot on Friday night. The Rockets struggled after T-Mac left the game because of an injury, but the rest of the crew pulled it out in the second half, beating the Hornets 81-68. Yao scored 12 points and grabbed 7 boards in 24 minutes, once again plagued with foul troubles. Click here for more photos from the game.

by Chia-Chi and John

FRIDAY, 3/25/05 – In one of the scarier moments for Rockets fans this season, Tracy McGrady fell to the floor awash in pain three minutes into the first quarter. He repeatedly slapped the floor in agony as trainers rushed out to tend to him. He was eventually carried off by two teammates into the locker room.

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Yao contests the shot of Cleveland’s Drew Gooden Thursday night on the Rockets way to a 99-80 victory in Houston. Yao scored 13 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and had two blocks in 24 minutes of action. Click here for more photos from the game.

by Chia-Chi and John

THURSDAY, 3/24/05 – When Vin Baker plays it only means one thing: blowout. Coming off a close 2 point win over Miami, the Rockets strolled to a huge win over Lebron James and the struggling Cavaliers with a 99-80 victory.

In the first quarter, the Rockets fell behind early, but went on a 15-2 run to take a 19-11 lead, capped by a sweet bounce pass from Yao in the post to Clarence Weatherspoon who cut down the middle of the lane for a layup. I hadn’t seen a nifty pass like that from Yao in a long time!

T-Mac scored 8 points in the quarter, including three baskets on incredible slicing moves to the basket, and a 360 move under the basket where he amazingly got the ball off in mid-air for a layup off the glass. That bucket brought the sellout Houston house down! Yao scored 7 points on 2-of-2 shooting in the quarter. It was all knotted up at 28-28 after one quarter, with both teams shooting .500 or better.

In the second quarter, T-Mac blew quickly into the lane from the top of the key and threw down a right-handed dunk over Drew Gooden that no one believed he had the quickness to get off. He was so quick, he froze two defenders down low who had no idea how to defend it.

Also in the second, Yao had an incredible block from behind of Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had a sure dunk. It was all ball, and the Rockets gained possession after the block.

T-Mac capped off an 11-2 Houston run to make it 45-37 on another throw-down after blowing past three Cavs on his way to the rack. The Rockets kept a 9-point separation and led 48-39 at the half. One of the reasons Houston dominated and held Cleveland to 11 second quarter points was their defense, holding them to 5-of-20 shooting.

In the third quarter, the Cavaliers clawed their way back to within 3 points, 59-56, with 4:09 remaining in the third. But that’s when McGrady and the Rockets bench decided to play hard defense. McGrady and David Wesley did an excellent job defending against Lebron, limiting him to 7 points the rest of the way. Scott Padgett also crashed the boards in the fourth, finishing with 9 boards.

Most exciting for the crowd was Jon Barry, who in two consecutive play assisted McGrady for huge fast break buckets. On the first play, Barry grabbed a defensive rebound off a Lebron miss, pushed the ball upcourt, and then executed a behind-the-back pass across half the distance of the court to T-Mac for a two-handed dunk that left the Cavaliers breathless. You can bet that pass will be in the Top 10 plays of the week.

On the very next play Padgett stole the ball from Ilgauskas and passed it to Barry, who led the break and went up for a layup, but at the last second faked the shot to throw off a defender in front of the rim, and then passed to McGrady while under the basket in mid-air for another huge fast break assist.

Behind three-point shooting from Mike James (three in the fourth quarter alone) and Barry, the Rockets accumulated a 20-point lead and the Cavaliers were all but finished.

Yao came in for a few minutes and scored four quick points before the clean-up crew came in. Mike James had the ball in the final seconds but decided to be a classy player and not break 100 points for free Big Macs for the crowd.

On reason for the large win margin was the Rockets rediscovered confidence in their shooting touch, hitting nearly 40% from the three point line and 47% from the field. They also out-rebounded the Cavs 48-37.

T-Mac was incredible, scoring 31 points on 11-of-21 shooting, his best shooting percentage in quite some time. The other star of the game was Bob Sura, who scored 12 points, grabbed 10 boards, dished 6 times and had two blocks.

Chia-Chi
zenithnadir@YaoMingFanClub.com

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To read the Houston Chronicle’s post-game analysis, click here.

We pulled out a close 84-82 victory against a very strong Miami team the other night, snapping their 12-game win streak. Tracy had another great all-around game for us and Dikembe really came through as well, hauling in something like 15 boards, while helping to defend Shaquille O’Neal.

The win against the Heat was very big for us, especially at this point in the season. Miami has the best record in the Eastern Conference, and the way it looks now, the road to the Finals will probably lead through them. We also have won eight of our last eleven games and have the best record at this point, the best this team has had since the 1996-97 season.

Tonight, we play Cleveland at home. Although LeBron has been unbelievable for them this year, overall the team has really struggled the second half of the season. This will be only their second game under their new coach, but they did have an impressive win the other night against the defending champions, so it’s important for us not to let down our guard. In the only game we had against the Cavs this season, however, we managed to limit LeBron very well, but more importantly we walked away with the win. Hopefully this outcome will be no different.

Yao lowers a shoulder into Shaq on Tuesday night in Houston as both big men played each other for only the second time this season. Yao played only 25 minutes because of foul trouble, scoring 12 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. But the Rockets still managed to beat the Heat, 84-82. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

TUESDAY, 3/22/05 – It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a win. Houston overcame lots of mistakes on Tuesday night to still hold on and beat the Miami Heat 84-82 in Houston to halt their 12-game winning streak.

The Heat have been a scoring machine during their streak, averaging 103.1 points per game. But Jeff Van Gundy’s defense proved to be too much for the Heat to handle, who scored 21 points under their scoring average.

It was a defensive battle from the start, with Miami also holding the Rockets scoreless until 8:14 remaining in the first quarter until Yao hit a fadeaway over Shaq to make it 4-2, Miami.

It looked like the Rockets main deficiency since Juwan Howard got hurt a few games, power forward, was going to continue to be a problem in this game when Howard’s replacement, Clarence Weatherspoon, missed his first two shots from the left baseline by jacking up two air balls.

But ‘Spoon improved, hitting his next four shot attempts throughout the game (including a nice running hook shot in the lane, and a long jumper from the top of the key) and hitting all four of his free throws to score 12 points total. You have to give him credit for recovering so well after the air balls. He even had a couple of steals and two assists in a crucial part of the fourth quarter to show that he can be a worthy replacement while Juwan heals. Weatherspoon, at 6’4”, even guarded Shaq a few times!

Speaking of Shaq, he and scoring sidekick Dwyane Wade got off to a slow start, missing their first six shots collectively in the first quarter, and as a team Miami only made 4-of-16. Meanwhile, T-Mac took it strong to the hole a couple of times and scored on highlight reel dunks that brought the house down!

After the first quarter, the Rockets held a surprising 20-16 lead against the Eastern Conference’s best team, and were out-rebounding them, too.

The second quarter was a different story, with Shaq and Wade getting on track and scoring 10 points and 9 points, respectively. Shaq even faked out Yao so bad on a spin move for a layup, it was one of Yao’s most embarrassing moments this year. It was so fast, he didn’t seem to know what hit him.

Houston struggled in the second quarter shooting 25%, and the Heat took advantage by turning a 7-point deficit in the first quarter into an 11-point lead, 41-30. The Rockets made a slight run to close the gap to 41-36 at halftime, but the stat sheet looked awful. 31% shooting by halftime, 0-for-10 from three-point territory (David Wesley was 0-for-5 on three-point attempts).

What kept Houston in the game in the first half was T-Mac’s 12 points, 8-for-8 team shooting from the free throw line, a 25-20 rebounding advantage (Dikembe Mutombo had 7, six offensive; Yao had 5), and only six turnovers.

In the second half, Yao picked up his fourth foul with a little over 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter, and had to check out of the game. The Head led 53-49 at the time.

With Yao out of the game, that’s when the Rockets made their move. The Rockets went on a 12-2 run, thanks to the Heat missing four free throws in a row (two by Shaq), to lead 61-55 at the end of the three quarters. It could have been 63-55 if Dikembe hadn’t missed two free throws at the end of the quarter to snap an amazing 18-for-18 streak from the free throw line.

By the time Miami’s Alonzo Mourning tipped in a shot at the 9:47 mark in the fourth quarter to the Rockets lead to 63-57, the Heat had missed 9 shots in a row and hadn’t scored in 7 minutes.

The Rockets maintained their lead, and pushed it to 80-72 with 40.5 seconds remaining when Mike James hit a big three-pointer that seemed to ice the game.

Not so fast.

Miami’s Damon Jones hit a three-pointer to close it to 80-75, and after the Heat fouled James intentionally, James went to the line and missed both free throws!

On the ensuing Miami possession, Jones hit a wild three-pointer, and was fouled by James during the shot. Jones went to the line and closed the gap to 80-79 with 14.3 seconds remaining, putting thoughts of Choke City into Rocket fans’ heads.

The rest of the game turned into a free throw shooting contest, with David Wesley hitting two big free throws and Wade missing a couple of his to seal it for the Rockets.

How’d Yao do?

Yao was largely ineffective in the second half because of foul trouble, playing only 7 minutes in the third quarter and one minute in the fourth before fouling out. Although he scored 12 points (5-of-11 shooting) and grabbed 5 boards, the Rockets made their run to win this game without him. Shaq easily outplayed Yao, scoring 23 points and grabbing 16 boards.

Instead, Yao’s substitute, Dikembe, was amazing. Although he scored 8 points, more importantly he kept possessions alive by grabbing 15 rebounds, eight that were offensive.

Coupled with Mutombo’s rebounding was Houston’s stellar defense. The Rockets limited Miami to only 30 points in the paint while Miami average 44 points, third best in the league. Those 30 points allowed in the paint are right at Houston’s league-leading average.

But the Rockets were lucky to win this game. They committed several mistakes that could have cost them, like Mike James missing all four of his free throws in the fourth quarter, the Rockets missing 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch, and Rocket defenders fouling Eddie Jones and Damon Jones on three-pointers, resulting in two four-point plays in the same game! I don’t even know if that has ever been done before.

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To read the Houston Chronicle’s post-game analysis, click here.

Yao battles against Minnesota’s Michael Olowokandi on Sunday night. Yao’s stats were okay (21 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in 21 minutes), but the Rockets were easily beaten by the T-wolves 94-86. For more photos from the game, click here.

by Chia-Chi

SUNDAY, 3/20/05 – Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said this before the Timberwolves game on Sunday night: “My players believe they’re already guaranteed a playoff spot, and I’m thinking disaster is right around the corner.” The former explains why the Rockets played without their normal energy until the fourth quarter, and the latter describes tonight’s game: disaster. The Rockets lost their second straight by getting outplayed once again, this time 94-86 to Minnesota.

The Timberwolves, fighting for their lives in a race to capture the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, played like a hungry team all four quarters and established a lead early on that couldn’t be overcome. The Timberwovles simply wanted the win more and the Rockets, for a variety of reasons, just couldn’t match the intensity.

But this loss can’t be blamed on a lack of effort completely. The absence of Juwan Howard continues to haunt the Rockets and present defensive nightmares, such as when backup center Dikembe Mutombo briefly played the power forward position against Kevin Garnett.

We may have taken Howard for granted because of his demure attitude, but his defensive and offensive prowess have been critical factors in the Rockets success. Without his presence, the team needs to compensate in ways that has a chilling downstream effect.

The team’s shooting woes also continued, accentuated by T-Mac‘s horrendous 4-22 shooting. As a team the Rockets were frustrated by a physical Minnesota defense, as exemplified by T-Mac shoving Sam Cassell when his screen was a little too close. But even the foul calls that the Rockets got went to waste, as the team shot only 68% from the charity stripe.

On a night where the Rocket sharpshooters hit nothing but the rim, Yao had a surprisingly effective game offensively. As normal, Yao received the ball early in the first quarter and he scored the team’s first six points.

In the second quarter, it was nice to see nearly every possession continuing to go through Yao. He seemed to be involved in every offensive and defensive play, whether it be scoring in the paint, passing out to his teammates for easy points, blocks, or drawing fouls on his opponents. Yao got the Timberwolves centers in so much foul trouble that they had to play their third-string center against him.

But Yao’s performance alone was not enough to derive a win, and the Timberwolves’ lead extended past 20 points.

The Rockets made a valiant push in the fourth and actually played with hustle, getting defensive stops, steals, and scoring efficiently. But a 20+ point lead was too much for the Rockets to overcome, and Garnett and Cassell would not allow their team to lose. The Rockets came within 8 points, the smallest point difference in the game, in the final minutes. But it was too little, too late.

The Timberwolves were a team that the Rockets would have beat with Howard in the lineup. How the Rockets fill this hole will be critical in their remaining games as they play the Heat, the hottest team in the league right now, in their next game on Tuesday night.

Chia-Chi
zenithnadir@YaoMingFanClub.com

John’s take of the game

Okay, when you’re scoring star (T-Mac) is struggling (4-of-22 on Sunday for 15 points) and your power forwards (Scott Padgett and Clarence Weatherspoon) substituting for the injured Juwan Howard only score four points, you’re going to have problems winning ballgames.

Obviously, other guys need to step it up with those kinds of scoring problems. Even though Mike James scored 13, Yao only scored three points above his season average (21 on Sunday), Bob Sura scored 7 points, and David Wesley only scored six. Dikembe scored 5 and was even inserted alongside Yao in the lineup at one point in the third quarter to try some “Twin Tower” action, but it didn’t last long as Deke was forced to guard Kevin Garnett, which was ‘no contest.’

So with very little scoring and Sam Cassell and Kevin Garnett scoring 18 and 30 points, respectively, there is absolutely no way you’re going to beat a desperate Minnesota team fighting for their playoff lives, especially when you only shoot 35% from the floor and miss 15 free throws (32-of-47, with Yao missing 5 out of 16).

With the trading deadline long past, the Rockets can’t make any big deals now. That’s why they had to sign a guy they cut earlier this season, Torraye Braggs, who is on his way over from Russia and should be in uniform Tuesday night against Miami.
All I can say is that if Braggs plays before reserve forward Vin Baker does, then it’s really sad to see Baker has lost so much of his former self. Wouldn’t it be great to see Baker make a comeback with a strong contribution while Howard is out? Don’t count on it.

As badly as the Rockets played, they had a chance when they went on a 15-2 run to close the gap to 86-77 with six minutes remaining in the game. They could have cut the deficit to 7 points when T-Mac stole a T-wolve pass and dished it to Dikembe in front of the rim, but he blew the layup.

Then the Rockets missed two three-pointers in a row, and couldn’t grab a rebound after two consecutive Minnesota misses. A few minutes later, Bob Sura turned the ball over on a fast break, and then the Rockets missed another three-pointer, and that’s all she wrote.

All I’ve got to say is that there is probably little chance the Rockets are going to win Tuesday night against Miami, the hottest team in the league and the toughest matchup for Yao (Shaq) that has ever lived. As a result, the quest to overtake Dallas for the fourth playoff spot and gain home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs is slowly slipping away.

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com

Yao throws one down over Boston’s Mark Blount on Friday, but the Celtics got the better of the Rockets, snapping Houston’s 6-game winning streak 103-92. Yao had a decent game, scoring 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

FRIDAY, 3/18/05 – Everyone has been talking about Miami and Houston being the hot teams in the league lately, with 11-game and 6-game winning streaks, respectively. But look out for the Boston Celtics, who are quietly showing everyone they are a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.

Having a good mix of veterans (Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, Gary Payton) and young, fast players like Ricky Davis, Tony Allen, Mark Blount, Al Jefferson, and Marcus Banks, the Celtics used their quickness to spank the Rockets in Toyota Center, 103-92. The victory gave Boston their 10th victory in their past 11 games.

The Rockets hot shooting over their recent winning streak finally cooled off, hitting only 43% of their shots and 29% from three-point land. Call it “Friday Night Blight” from the floor.

The Celtics started out sizzling as they got lots of easy points penetrating to the basket. Their bench of young guns also outscored Houston’s 28-12, carrying them to a 56-42 at halftime. Meanwhile, Houston struggled, hitting only 32% in the first half.
For some reason, Yao only got off three shots in the first two quarters. The Celtics were fronting him well defensively, but the Rockets guards have fallen in love with the three-pointer lately, and they paid for it dearly on Friday, making only 2-of-13 from three-point territory in the first half.

After three quarters, the Rockets trailed 77-61 and really never made a big run until the end of the game when they went on a 17-5 run to close it to 97-88. But Boston responded and closed it out.

The final stat sheet wasn’t a pleasant sight for Houston fans. Yao scored 18 points, but he only attempted 7 shots (he made five). Bob Sura was 3-for-12 with 10 points. T-Mac’s mini-slump continued (8-of-22 for 22 points). Mike James was 1-for-8 for two points. In Juwan Howard’s absence, the two-headed power forward tandem of Scott Padgett and Clarence Weatherspoon scored 8 points and grabbed eight rebounds collectively.

As a team, the Rockets were out-assisted 24-17 by the Celtics. And Houston missed 21-of-32 free throws, with those 11 misses being the final margin of defeat.

Although I hate losing, I can handle a loss to a hot team every once in awhile. The Celtics and coach Doc Rivers deserve alot of respect. I was impressed.

On the flip side, Houston is entitled to a cold shooting game every once in awhile. I’m confident if Houston ever had to face a team like Dallas or Boston in the playoffs, that coach Jeff Van Gundy has the smarts to make the adjustments and put game plans together that would give them a great chance of winning a 7-game series.

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com

As he goes up for a dunk attempt, Yao is fouled by a Blazer player on Wednesday night in Houston. The Rockets won their 6th game in a row convincingly, winning 108-77. Because of the easy victory, Yao only played 21 minutes, scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

WEDNESDAY, 3/16/05 – You know when Tracy McGrady is your team’s third-leading scorer in a game and Yao is the fourth, and you still win 108-77, you’ve got a lot going for you as a team.

Not that T-Mac (19 boards, 6 assists, 6 rebounds) or Yao (13 points, 7 boards) played poorly. They just weren’t really needed, playing 28 and 21 minutes, respectively.

The Rockets game against the Portland Trailblazers in Houston Wednesday night was close until about the two-minute mark in the first quarter when the Rockets opened up a 30-23 lead, and finished the quarter on a 15-6 run in the last 4 ½ minutes to lead 34-25.

Houston’s shooting was a phenomenal 11-of-18 in the first quarter, with Bob Sura hitting 4-of-5 for 10 points.

In the second quarter, David Wesley continued his hot shooting, hitting an amazing 4-of-4 to add on to his 2-of-2 in the first. Wesley has been., shooting 53% over the past 5 games, and hitting 50% of his three-pointers. Unconscious.

And he wasn’t the only one. The Rockets offense hummed along, building an 18-point lead on a sweet fast break when Jon Barry threw a no-look, behind-the-head pass to Scott Padgett for a layup attempt that was blocked, but Dikembe Mutombo followed from behind to lay it in, bringing the Toyota Center crowd to a roar as the scoreboard read 49-31 Rockets.

By halftime, the Rockets were in command 57-43, and were shooting 57% as a team and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. And even with power forward Juwan Howard out for a month because of a sprained medial collateral ligament suffered on Monday night at Golden State, the Rockets had out-rebounded 21-14 a very young and inexperienced Blazers team. Although the Blazers are young, the Rocket “old men” were leading in fast break points 14-5.

When Wesley hit a 3-pointer – his seventh shot in a row — at the 10:38 minute mark of the third quarter, the Rockets led 60-45 and it was never really close after that. All that remained for Rocket fans was to enjoy the fireworks.

For example, Wesley got the ball on a fast break and drove to the basket, but his shot was blocked by a Blazer. However, Yao hustled down the court behind the break, grabbed the rebound in mid-air, and threw it down two-handed on a rare follow-up dunk to push the lead to 70-51! The Blazers called a timeout, and as Yao came back to the bench, he was greeted with high-fives and a rare mid-air chest bump by reserve forward Vin Baker. The good times were rolling!

The Rockets played out the rest of the game free and easy, outscoring the Blazers 51-34 in the second half. Wesley finished with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and Sura got back to his old scoring self by scoring 21 on 7-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three-point land. Collectively, Houston shot 8-of-16 from behind the arc.

Portland’s interim coach, Kevin Pritchard, said after the game, “When you shoot the ball that well and you have Yao Ming on the team, there is really no chance of beating them. They have so many pieces.”

The only suspense that remained was if the Rockets were going to hit the 100-point mark, which would send all fans home with the opportunity to get a free Big Mac the next day. Dikembe delivered at the free throw line when his first attempt dangled on the back rim for a few seconds, putting the Toyota Center crowd in suspense. As the shot finally fell through the net, the fans erupted with a deafening roar as Houston led 100-72 with 6:24 remaining in the game . In a rare show of emotion on the court, Deke couldn’t contain himself and broke out a huge smile because of the levity of the situation. Dikembe played the rest of the way, giving Yao a breather on the bench.

Outside of the Miami Heat, who have won 10 in a row, the Rockets are the hottest team in the league right now, having won 6 in a row. They are shooting great (51% on Wednesday) and playing very good defense (35% shooting for Portland). They also had an astounding 24-10 advantage in fast break points, and only turned the ball over 9 times.

The Rockets next play the Boston Celtics, winners of 9 of their last 10 games, in Houston on Friday night. It should be a high-scoring game considering Boston has scored over 100 points in four consecutive games.

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To read the Houston Chronicle’s post-game analysis, click here.

Yao gets hacked by Golden State’s Adonal Foyle in Oakland on Monday night in a wild game, with the Rockets holding off a mad rush by the Warriors to win their fifth game in a row, 97-94. Click here for more photos from the game.

by Chia-Chi

TUESDAY, 3/15/05 – The Golden State Warriors personified a hungry team and provided some unexpected turbulence for a Rockets team that continues to soar. While the Rockets now extend their winning streak to five games, beating the best of the West on their way (Suns, Sonics, Kings), the road weary Rockets team faced a final road trip game that was far from easy.

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Sacramento’s Mike Bibby runs into the Great Wall of Yao on Sunday in Sac-town. The Rockets continue to stun the West, beating the Kings 111-96 in their own gym. Yao scored 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and hit 7-of-8 clutch free throws. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

SUNDAY, 3/13/05 – Not having won a game at Arco Arena this century, the Rockets came into Sacramento having beaten three of the top four teams in the West: the Mavericks, Sonics and Suns.

Surely the Rockets were due for a loss. That’s what Houston teams are typically known for doing: when they play well and win several in a row, they get complacent and lose games they should win, right? Especially in an arena like Sacramento’s where they have folded multiple times, and with a national television audience watching to boot, right?

Not this Houston team. They are something special to behold in Rocket-lore.

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