Yao Ming shoots a jump hook over Chicago rookie Joakim Noah on Sunday night to help the Rockets win their 12th game in a row, beating the Bulls 110-97. Yao’s firepower wasn’t needed as much since 6 other Rocket players scored in double figures. Yao would finish with 12 points and 6 boards. Click here for more photos from the game. Click here for photos from the team practice, press conference with Bobby Jackson and Gerald Green, and the pre-game shootaround.

When the Rockets were only leading 49-46 at halftime against a Chicago team that had young players in the starting lineup like Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, and Thabo Sefolosha, and brand new veterans like Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes, the thought of the Rockets finally running out of gas after 11 straight wins had to enter one’s mind.

The Bulls were intent to make the Rockets run, and it was an effective strategy. The Rockets were playing well on the offensive end of the court, shooting 50% and scoring 49 points. But their defense gave up 53% shooting in the first half, 13 fast break points, and it didn’t help that the Rockets missed 7-of-14 free throws.

In the third quarter when the Rockets got close to putting the game away, the Bulls continued to fight and only trailed by 9 points entering the fourth quarter. Was this going to be another Philadelphia game debacle where the Rockets blow a fourth quarter lead to a young team that didn’t have much to lose?

Maybe the team from a couple of months ago might implode, but not this Rockets team that seems like a completely different crew playing with a new mindset. In the fourth quarter, the Rockets hit a barrage of 3-pointers that was “vintage Spurs” to blow the Bulls out in the final few minutes.

In that pivotal fourth quarter, new backup point guard Bobby Jackson quickly made his presence felt to make those fans who miss Bonzi Wells not feel as bad about his departure. Jackson hit a tough, leaning jumper (when’s the last time Mike James did that?) to make it 81-72, then on the next possession he took it all the way to the rack from the 3-point line for a twisting layup, and was fouled! After BJ hit the penalty free throw, the Rockets led 84-74 with 9:36 remaining.

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With the Rockets right in the thick of things in the Western Conference playoff race and how tightly packed the top 8 or 9 teams are, it’s starting to get fun to watch what the other teams are doing. So occasionally I’ll reference what they are doing to get a better sense of the Rockets’ potential playoff opponents. Not that it really matters, though, because whatever the matchups end up being, they’re all going to be tough.

On Saturday night, New Orleans played the Spurs in San Antonio, and the Hornets came back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game with 7:05 remaining in the game, but couldn’t pull out a victory. Both teams are now tied at the top of the Southwest division at 37-17. I was pulling more for the Hornets since I think the Spurs will be a tougher opponent.

In that game, new Hornet forward Bonzi Wells played 19 minutes and made only 1-of-7 shots for 2 points. Ouch.

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Yao Ming goes after one of his game-high 14 rebounds in a game where the Rockets made a statement by beating the Western Conference leading New Orleans Hornets. Yao would also finish with 28 points on 12-of-21 shooting as the Rockets on their 11th game in a row. Click here for more photos from the game.

I admit that I’m very cautious and conservative when it comes to heaping praise on the Rockets. We have learned from past experience that right when you want to get excited about the idea of the Rockets dominating the league (remember that 6-1 record to start this season?), reality sets in followed by a big letdown.

So during the Rockets’ recent 10-game winning streak, I haven’t been completely convinced the Rockets had proven much since none of their opponents were world-beaters. I would bet many of the players felt the same way. That’s why the Rockets game against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night was HUGE. If the Rockets lose the game, then we would know we still need to keep our optimism at safeguarded levels.

If they win, then it would be a statement game to the rest of the league, and themselves, that they are for real. And maybe it would give everyone peace of mind that it’s okay to start getting a little crazy. No better place to start a party than in New Orleans, right?

That’s exactly what the Rockets did, dominating the Hornets in their own gym 100-80 to win their 11th straight game. And the way the Rockets did it, I think it gives them even more confidence that maybe they can actually win the whole thing. After all, New Orleans is no slouch. They had a 5-game winning streak of their own coming into the game, and had won 22 of their last 26 by recently beating quality opponents like Dallas, Phoenix, Denver and San Antonio.

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After a sub-par performance (3-of-17 shooting) against Cleveland two nights before, Yao Ming came back strong against Miami to score 21 points on incredible 10-of-11 shooting while also grabbing 9 boards in a 112-100 win that gave the Rockets their 10th win in a row. Click here for more photos from the game.

With the trade of Bonzi Wells, Mike James and Kirk Snyder within the past 24 hours, you wondered if the Rockets would have a lapse and not take care of business against a Miami team Thursday night that had lost 24 of its last 25 games.

Or perhaps the Rockets would look ahead to their huge match-up Friday night against their toughest opponent, New Orleans, since Houston’s 9-game winning streak began – coincidentally against the same team to whom they traded Bonzi and James late Wednesday night.

To the contrary, the Rockets came out on fire in the first quarter, making a statement to score the most number of points they have scored in a quarter this season, 41, and lead by 15 at the end of the first quarter.

In that first quarter, the Rockets hit 17-of-21 shots and 4-of-5 from 3-point land. And get a load of these other first quarter numbers: Tracy McGrady hit 6-of-8 shots for 14 points. Yao Ming was 4-of-4 for 8 points. Rafer Alston was 4-of-5, including 3-of-3 from three-point land. And Luis Scola was 3-of-4 for 6 points. Amazing.

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Just before the trade deadline, it was announced that the Rockets traded Kirk Snyder for Minnesota’s Gerald Green.

I love this trade. Not that Green is ready to play significant minutes, but it’s great to get an athletic local boy (Gulfshores Academy) on the roster . The Rockets have missed the chance to get other local, athletic players in the past that could have energized the crowd, like Rashard Lewis and T.J. Ford just to name a few. And with Green’s great dunking ability (former NBA slam dunk champion), he should be alot of fun to watch when he does get into a game.

For more information about the trade, click here.

Late Wednesday night the Rockets traded Mike James and Bonzi Wells for Bobby Jackson. Here are the details from the Chronicle.

The Rockets may not be finished dealing until the trade deadline at 3:00pm Eastern on Thursday. But if Jackson stays as a Rocket, I’m actually surprised Houston would trade Bonzi for a 34-year old point guard who is definitely on his last legs. I would have preferred Sam Cassell, who is older, but can still hit the big shot in the clutch. Maybe BJ can, too.

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Shane Battier and Yao Ming defend Cleveland’s LeBron James as the Rockets stingy defense limited the Cavaliers to 38.8% shooting. On the offensive side of the ball, Houston’s leading scorers of Yao and Tracy McGrady had a terrible night shooting, but Houston’s role players came through to help Houston win their 9th game in a row on the road and overall. Click here for more photos from the game.

It’s amazing that the Rockets won their 9th straight game Tuesday night, and their 9th straight on the road to tie a team record. With Yao and Tracy McGrady shooting a combined 9-for-38 (23.7%), Houston still managed to beat LeBron James and Cleveland 93-85

In the city where you can visit the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, it’s appropriate that the Rocket “role” players were the guys who stepped up as Houston’s band leaders went AWOL.

It didn’t look good as the Rockets started off the game shooting 1-for-9, getting down 10-2 early, then they made only 2 of their next 9 shots. Then before finishing the first quarter, they hit 3 of their last 5 shots to get their field goal percentage to 26%. Shockingly, the Rockets led 21-20 at the end of the quarter thanks to good defense.

LeBron was 0-for-6 in the first quarter with 3 points, and in the second quarter he missed his only shot to go 0-for-7 by halftime with only 7 points. Incredible that the NBA All-Star MVP would get shut out from the field like that. But he wouldn’t be the only highly paid player to lose his shot in his first game back from the All-Star game.

For example, let’s take a look at Yao. In his previous 4 games, Yao has been so solid and consistent, it was actually getting a little boring. How many different ways can you say a player is playing great? There really wasn’t much you could complain about during that 4-game stretch: 25 ppg, 59.7% shooting, 13 rebounds per game.

But on Tuesday against Cleveland, other than his free throw shooting (10-of-10) and rebounding (14), he played one of his worst games of the season shooting an unbelievable 3-of-17 shooting from the field. It was so bad, he was blocked a few times and even missed an uncontested dunk that clanged off the back rim to go out-of-bounds.

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Yesterday I was able to take in a few hours in New Orleans before the All-Star game, which I didn’t attend. I understand tickets in the lower level had a $400 face value, and were $300 in the upper level! A ticket “reseller” later told me on the plane back home that the demand for after-market tickets to this All-Star game was probably the lowest he’s ever seen, due to the fact there just aren’t that many people in New Orleans who have that kind of cash to throw around.

I suspect another reason had to be the limited number of flights that fly into New Orleans compared to larger cities. Still, even if I could get a ticket at face value (or even lower than face value based on low demand), I was content to watch the game on TV.

One of the main reasons why I went to New Orleans for the day was because Yao Ming’s agent invites folks associated with their athletes to attend an annual brunch they have the morning of each All-Star game. Since working on the site is more a labor of love for me than a financial windfall, it’s always nice to get a little perk like that from Bill Duffy & Associates (BDA).

When I walked into the House of Blues where the brunch was held, the first person I saw was Colin Pine, former translator for Yao Ming, who I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. Colin was in town for the game since he is working in China for the NBA.

Also with him was Christopher Chen and Adam Del Deo, producers of the “The Year of the Yao” film. It was great to get caught up with the guys who followed Yao so closely those first couple of years of Yao’s NBA career. It seems so much more calm now compared to the crazy days of 2002 and 2003.

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Because he had been playing alot of minutes before the break, Yao requested that Western Conference coach Byron Scott play him limited minutes in the All-Star game Sunday night. Scott obliged by letting Yao just play 13 minutes. Yao scored 6 points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field, including 0-for-2 from three-point land.

Here he launches one of those 3-pointers with a smile on his face (he’s obviously having a good time):

I ended up going to New Orleans for the afternoon (didn’t attend the game) and have some interesting non-Yao stories to share. I got in so late, though, I’m pretty beat to write about it now. But I’ll post some of those stories on Monday.

Meanwhile, Raymond and other YaoManiacs has done a great job posting tons of cool photos in the YaoMania! forum from the weekend.

Click here to see the page (#2 in the thread) with photos of Yi Jianlian, as well as Yao watching the Rookie-Sophomore game Friday night.

Click here to see the page (#3 in the thread) with photos of Yao at the All-Star practice on Saturday, and cool photos of Dwight Howard during the slam dunk competition (as well as other participants from All-Star competitions on Saturday night).

Click here to see the page (#4 in the thread) of photos from the NBA All-Stars China Night attended by Yao, Dikembe Mutombo and Yi Jianlian (among others). Scroll down this page to see Yao in the locker room on Sunday before the game.

Click here for the page (#5 in the thread) of photos of Yao playing in the All-Star game Sunday night.

Thanks for the pics Raymond and folks!

We take a break during this NBA All-Star break to bring you more news about the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. It was announced yesterday that Olympic athletes will be able to blog, but the rules are so restrictive, it looks like it might be more trouble than its worth.

On a similar note, here’s an article about the issue regarding free speech at the Games.

Even though it’s about a week old, this article provides a great recap on where things stand with Olympic preparations.