Yao Ming helps Rockets to win in China
Even though Yao Ming
played only 19 minutes in the game, all in the first half, he got far more attention than anyone else in the building. That’s because today’s exhibition game between Yao’s Houston
Rockets and the New Jersey Nets was played in China, where Yao is a national treasure.
Easing his way back to full strength after foot surgery, Yao tallied nine points and four rebounds, helping the Rockets defeat the Nets 91-81 at the Wukesong Arena in Beijing, the same
arena where Olympic basketball was played when China hosted the summer games back in 2008. The 17,000 fans who packed the arena were noisy. But they were downright giddy whenever Yao scored a bucket or grabbed a rebound.
“It’s always exciting to come back to China and play a game in front of all the fans in the home country, particularly in this arena,” Yao said after the game. “The memory is still very
fresh for me from when we played the Olympics here.”
Kevin Martin led the Rockets in scoring with 18 points while Aaron Brooks added 17.
Brook Lopez led the Nets with 22 points and seven rebounds with point guard Devin Harris putting up solid numbers with 19 points, seven assists, and five steals.
While the Rockets enjoyed a 53-42 lead heading into half-time, the Nets made a game of it in the third quarter, outscoring the opposition 25-16 to pull within two points going into the
final quarter. But the Rockets, playing in front of what had to feel like a home crowd, outscored the Nets 22-14 in the final period to lock up the win.
Yao, who sat out the entire season last year while recovering from surgery on a broken bone in his foot, is being brought back slowly into the line-up. The Rockets have said they want
to limit the play of their seven-time All-Star to 24 minutes per game this season. So far in the pre-season, Yao has averaged only 12 minutes per contest.
"We're just trying to bring him along slowly but he's gotten better every game. We're very pleased with what's happening," Houston coach Rick Adelman said.
Yao likened the process to eating vegetables. You may not like the taste but you still have to eat them.
"Everything is geared toward letting me hold up longer," he said. "Even little kids know, vegetables might not taste very good, but they're good for you and healthy, that's how it is."
The same two teams will play a second exhibition game on Saturday 16 October in the Chinese city of Guangzhou. It will be the 10th NBA exhibition game played in China since
Yao joined the NBA in 2003.
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