Yao Ming shoots a jump hook in the lane over San Antonio’s Fabricio Oberto in a big win Tuesday night against the Spurs. Yao scored 28 points, grabbed 13 boards, dished 6 assists and blocked 3 shots. Click here to see more photos from the game.

I said last night after the loss to the Mavs that it would be a rare night when both Mike James and Bonzi Wells had off nights, and not to worry too much. Did that ever ring true Tuesday night when the Rockets beat the Spurs 89-80.

Although he was 4-of-13 from the field, James hit some very big shots down the stretch and shot for a pretty good percentage from three-point land (3-of-7). He is turning out to be what the Rockets exactly expected from him: an energy guy who has some speed, can penetrate into the lane, and can hit timely jump shots and three-pointers. Sure, it would be great if he was a Steve Nash-like passer who could find Yao no matter where he was, but wouldn’t it be for everybody?

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Yao Ming throws one down over Juwan Howard in the first half of the Rockets-Mavericks game Monday night. Yao finished with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, and 11 rebounds in a heartbreaking loss to the Mavericks 107-98. Click here to see more photos from the game.

I’ve got a lot of work to do tonight, so I hope this is short. Let me just say I’ve read the articles on the Houston Chronicle site about this game, and I’m going to point out a different perspective for you if you’ve read those. I’m coming at you with a DVR remote in my hand that just played back a lot of replays frame by frame.

I can respect what the writers for the Chronicle have stated about the Rockets folding down the stretch in their game against Dallas, which Houston lost 107-98. I can also respect the players and Rick Adelman saying they didn’t make plays when they should have. All of that is true.

But let me just say this. This game was an entertaining horse race played between two good teams, BUT THE DAMN REFS HAD A HUGE INFLUENCE ON THE OUTCOME OF THIS GAME!

The refs blew at least 4 calls in the fourth quarter against the Rockets, and I’ll give the writers for this game a break since they probably didn’t have access to replay–or the time to review each play–to see just how much the game turned on these calls.

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With all the excitement of Houston’s home opener Saturday night against Portland, the Rockets lived up to expectations that a revamped bench and a 2-0 record have created by taking command early and not being threatened too much by a young Blazer team.

The Rockets started off the first quarter on an 18-4 run, led by Yao Ming scoring 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. In that first quarter, he hit a fallaway jumper, a jump hook, a wicked spin move on the baseline for a layup, and a dunk! Yao would finish the night with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Not a bad night for a guy who says he still feels uncomfortable spending 50% of his time in the high post.

Click here for more photos from the game. Click here for video from the game.

Yao missed several easy jump shots in the second half that makes me a little concerned about his shooting accuracy. That’s the second game in a row where he has hit a dry spell within a game. But hopefully it’s only temporary and he’ll get those fallaways and jump hooks on target soon.

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Our Raymond has done another great job translating an interview that Titan Sports did with Yao Ming after the Laker game, and before the Utah game. Here it is…

In the midst of the Salt Lake City night, looking out at an ice-cold and listless city from the window of his hotel room, the grief and bitterness of 6 months earlier suddenly rushed and welled into Yao Ming’s heart.

He manipulated the TV remote control in his hand, and there he saw a diminutive and bald commentator still with a pair of black eye sockets on the TV screen. Jeff Van Gundy, the man who single-handedly trained and pushed him to become the #1 center in the NBA had gone back to become a TV sports commentator. And the Houston Rockets have also said goodbye to his era of defensive-minded, rigid and mechanical style of play.

25 points and 12 rebounds: these are all career new-high for Yao Ming in an NBA season opener. Moreover, it was his very first win in season openers played away from home. But the only feeling Yao Ming had was…..it was sheer luck.

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Yao Ming shoots over Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko in a game where Yao struggled offensively with 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting, but he had a great defensive game to help get payback against Utah in a 106-95 win. Click here to see more photos from the game.

Even though Tracy McGrady came out and said before Thursday’s game in Utah that it was just another game, it didn’t appear that way from my perspective. He seemed to be very active on offense from the get-go, and actually started out playing like he was on a vengeance (kind of rare, if you ask me), hitting his first two shots of the game.

With the extra energy he had, it was like he wanted to show that last year’s Game 7 collapse against Utah — and his disappearing act late in that game — was a different McGrady on a very different team.

McGrady started off hot and kept it going, finishing with 47 points on 17-of-27 shooting in one of his best performances in awhile, keeping the Jazz at bay in a 106-95 win. It’s clear he’s playing with a lot more confidence compared to last season when he started off so cold shooting from the field. At this rate, he’s a cinch to win NBA Player of the Week if he plays halfway decent on Saturday night when Houston plays their home opener against Portland.

As great as McGrady was on this night, Yao Ming was the opposite. He hardly hit any of his shot attempts (5-of-14 for 11 points), but at least he was able to turn it on with some big shots in the fourth quarter. He actually played better on defense than on offense, getting 5 blocks and two steals. Yao might have been a step slow defensively in that series against the Jazz last season due to his leg injury, but you couldn’t tell he was laboring defensively in this game with defensive stats like those.

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I had a few more things I wanted to write about regarding Tuesday night’s game against the Lakers that I didn’t have time to write last night because the game ended so late.

It might be a symbol of great things to come that Yao Ming scored the first basket of the Rockets’ season, scoring on a reverse layup with 7:37 remaining in the first quarter after catching a sweet pass from Rafer Alston. On the next possession, Yao scored again on nice fadeaway jumper. Other Rockets had their chances to score first, but collectively they went 0-for-5 to start the game.

Did you see what Yao did with 5:09 remaining in the first quarter? He got the ball at the edge of the lane about 8 feet away from the basket, then made the most aggressive move I’ve seen him make in a long time. He dribbled strongly toward the basket with authority, was going to throw it down, and was fouled. Maybe his plan is to do that more often. After all, who is going to stop a freight train that’s 7’6″ and 300+ steamrolling his way to the basket? At minimum, he’ll get fouled and go to the line.

For all those critics who think Mike James is a ballhog…if he was a ballhog last night against the Lakers and he performs that way, then I’m all for it. Ballhog away! He was extremely effective scoring 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting. And I don’t mind a hot 3-point shooter taking another 3-pointer right after hitting one. You play the hot hand.

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Yao Ming prepares to throw one down in Los Angeles Tuesday night in a crazy game the Rockets won 95-93 to start the new season 1-0. Yao scored 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds in the victory. Click here to see more photos from the game.

The Rockets had a collapse at the end of their season-opening game against the Lakers on Tuesday night that was too reminiscent of their Game 7 implosion in the playoffs last season against Utah.

Many of the same players involved in blowing that lead against Utah, like Rafer Alston and Tracy McGrady, were the same culprits this time around –– but this time they blew an even bigger lead: a 12-point lead with 1:37 remaining.

Let’s look more closely into the mistakes that Alston and McGrady made that could have led to another disaster.

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The Rockets are about to tip-off against the Lakers in Game #1 of the season. I’m stoked it’s finally here. There is so much promise for the season and Big Yao.

Unlike the first few years I ran this site, I haven’t tried to create alot of hype before this season begins. No predictions. No report cards from the preseason. Just hoping the Rockets can make a run for the ring and let their play speak for themselves. It will be tough, but they’ve got a shot. It’s time.

I wrote alot of notes during the Rockets-Spurs game last night, which the Rockets lost 99-92, and was planning to put them in this blog post since I thought this final preseason game would be close enough to a real game to finally make my notes relevant.

But it was still too “pre-seasony” of a game to get a glimpse of where the Rockets stand as a team. Most starters didn’t play their regular minutes. For example, Yao Ming only played 29 minutes, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 boards.

The Spurs rested Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen, along with Robert Horry who is tending to a family matter. With those guys out, the Spurs still shot 51% from the floor. I guess every Rocket fan is concerned about the drop-off in defensive intensity we’ve seen this preseason, but I’m still not convinced yet it’s that big of a deal. To modify a phrase Allen Iverson once used , “It’s preseason. We’re talkin’ about preseason.”

Maybe one of the reasons the Spurs were hitting so many outside shots (like 9-of-17 three-pointers) is that everyone legs’ are still fresh because it’s still early yet. Maybe once the grind of the season kicks in, those shots won’t be falling as easily. The Rockets did keep the Spurs out of the paint for the most part.

Instead, during this preseason I have looked more at what the Rockets are doing on offense. By halftime, the Rockets outscored the Spurs 24-8 in the paint and 12-0 on second-chance points. I can live with that.

Tracy McGrady looked great, getting to the hole with ease in the first half and scoring on multiple layups. Part of the reason for his ability to drive to the hoop was because the lane wasn’t as clogged with Yao now spending more time in the high post area. McGrady finished with 21 points in 29 minutes.

Not that Yao is spending too much time camped outside of the lane. All his points came in the low block, including an impressive basket in the first quarter. In the block, Yao spun baseline, faked like he was going to take a shot from underneath the basket, pulled the ball down, then spun away from the basket (and Tim Duncan) to score on a little baby hook shot. It reminded me so much of that famous play where Hakeem Olajuwon did the same thing against David Robinson in the 1995 playoffs. Maybe that was one of the things Hakeem taught Yao during their workout sessions during the off-season.

Yao scored his 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field. One of the concerns I had for him from this game is that he missed a few chip shots around the basket as he was moving toward the basket, showing a lack of touch. In one sequence alone, he missed two consecutive shots around the rim, then after getting the second rebound just decided to dunk it for the score. I think he missed those because of a lack of concentration, which should get better as his brain gets ‘warmed up’ as the season starts up.

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Our Raymond has done an awesome job translating an interview that Titan Sports did with Yao Ming yesterday. Yao still doesn’t feel comfortable with the new offense yet. Click here for the translation.

Similarly, the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen wrote a similar piece (but shorter) in his Saturday column.