Yao Ming scored 14 points to lead the Houston Rockets to victory
over the Sacramento Kings 88-86 in the NBA's first China Game at
Shanghai Stadium Thursday evening.
Playing at his hometown for the first time since
joining the Houston Rockets during the 2002-2003 season, Yao seemed
slightly nervous at first before the capacity crowd of more than
10,000. But the 2.26-meter center soon found his rhythm and scored
his first basket four and a half minutes into the game, dunking on
Tracy McGrady's assist.
Yao added seven rebounds and one block in 27
minutes before watching the final quarter from the bench.
McGrady added 12 points and 7 rebounds in 26
minutes for the Rockets.
Liu Wei, Yao's former teammate at the Shanghai
Sharks, scored two points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal
in 19 minutes at the NBA pre-season game.
Having being invited to train with the Kings, Liu,
who won the CBA League championship with Yao in 2002, is hoping to
be the first Asian guard to play in the NBA.
Reece Gaines made two free throws 34 seconds from
the end to give the Rockets an 87-84 lead. Darius Songaila answered
with two from the line to cut it to 87-86.
Tyronn Lue missed one of his two free throws 0.4
seconds later, but Juwan Howard blocked Songaila as the time went
out to seal the victory for the Rockets.
Brad Miller scored a game-high 19 points with Mike
Bibby and Chris Webber adding 17 and 14 respectively.
The Kings, 4-0 winners over Rockets in the
2003-2004 regular season, started strongly by racing to a 24-11
lead in the first quarter. The Rockets fought back early in the
second as the Kings rested their starters to overtake the lead at
43-39. The third quarter was hotly contested with the Kings
entering the fourth 72-67 up after a 5-0 run.
Yao was one of the first Chinese nationals to head to the NBA.
After three years in the league - he was taken by the Rockets as
the top draft choice in 2001 - he has established himself as one of
the game's premier players.
Yao's popularity is such that more than half of the
visits to NBA websites last season were from outside the United
States - the first time this has happened. He twice garnered more
All-Star votes than Shaquille O'Neal.
Forbes magazine put Yao at the top of its list of
Chinese celebrities with an estimated income of $14.5 million,
largely from endorsement deals.
The NBA's first China games, the second of which
will be played in Beijing on Sunday, have attracted great interest
around the world. The games will be televised in 176 countries,
according to NBA officials.?
(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency October 15,
2004)
