Print
Yao's big night carries Rockets to win over Spurs
Houston 89, San Antonio 81
Box Score
Print
RSS Feed
Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- Before settling into the chair in front of his locker, Rockets center Yao Ming grabbed his sweat-drenched shirt and shot it over a crowd of reporters into a nearby hamper.
He then paused to admire his accuracy.
"That was a good shot," Yao said.
He had a lot of them on Tuesday night.
Behind a dominating performance from their star center and some help from Bonzi Wells off the bench, the Rockets held off the San Antonio Spurs down the stretch for a thrilling 89-81 victory in front of a packed house at Toyota Center.
The Rockets (4-1) bounced back from a rough ending in Dallas on Monday to grind out their first win over the NBA's defending champions at home in five tries. With that, they also scored a big early season win over one of the league's elite teams.
The primary reason: No. 11.
The Rockets' big man had a season-high 28 points and 13 rebounds, but more impressively, he shouldered Houston's offensive load over the final three minutes when the Spurs were trying to stage a comeback. The Rockets essentially flowed the entire offense through their center over that stretch as he scored seven points and dished out a couple of assists.
Nearly 24 hours after watching his team falter down the stretch because of turnovers and missed defensive assignments against the Mavericks, Yao didn't let it happen again.
"I didn't want last night's situation to happen again," Yao said. "When we got the ball into the frontcourt, I just focused on the play. I knew we were going to post me up. I just repeated everything I do in practice: catch the ball, locate people, watch the live cutter, find the open man and take the shots."
Yao did get plenty of help.
Behind a small committee of defenders, the Rockets tormented Tim Duncan into a 5-of-15 shooting peformance. The power forward settled for 14 points.
Meanwhile, with Tracy McGrady struggling to locate his shot against San Antonio's double teams, the Rockets made up the difference by outworking the Spurs on the boards. Houston nearly doubled San Antonio's rebounding output by a 55-28 margin. The Rockets even collected 25 offensive rebounds, leading to 21-3 advantage on second-chance points.
That made a huge impact on a night when the Rockets shot only 40.7 percent from the floor. Houston ended up taking 17 more shots than San Antonio.
"That shows how hungry we were to win the game," Yao said.
Wells' effort didn't hurt either.
After struggling through the first four games of the season, the Rockets' swingman had his best game off the bench. He had 14 points and 15 rebounds, pulling down seven of those boards on the offensive end. Wells came into the game averaging 5.3 points on 33 percent shooting.
Wells had such a gutsy performance that at least two players -- Rafer Alston and Chuck Hayes -- called the guard's effort "inspirational."
"Is that the word?" Wells said. "It feels good. The first four games I wasn't playing up to my ability where I know I can play at. I've been telling the guys that I've been pressing a little bit. I'm just happy to have an OK game tonight."
Yao took care of the rest.
After San Antonio pulled within seven points in the final three minutes, the Rockets fed Yao in the post. He canned a baseline turnaround jumper and follwed that shot with a hook over Duncan.
Just like that,
the Rockets avoided a letdown against the Spurs.
"Every year Yao is getting better," Duncan said. "The Rockets showed their confidence in him when they go through him at the end of the game like they did tonight. He made some big shots and was tough to stop."
Notable: Chuck Hayes received six stitches over his right eye after catching an elbow from Tim Duncan. "I just got a little light headed for a minute," Hayes said. "I had to come to my senses. I caught a good one. I was in the line of a big elbow." ... Tracy McGrady scored 12 points, snapping a streak of 17 straight games with at least 20 points against the Spurs. It was the longest active streak in the NBA against San Antonio heading into Tuesday's game. ... The Rockets had their ninth straight sellout dating back to last season, their longest streak at Toyota Center. ... The Rockets made a season-high nine three-pointers.
