Yao Ming returns as Magic beat Rockets
It was a tale of two centres in Hidalgo, Texas last night. Dwight Howard is arguably the most dominant centre in the NBA today. And according to many pundits, players, and coaches, Yao Ming, who
has been consistently hampered by injuries, probably should have been.
The Orlando Magic defeated the Houston Rockets 97-88 in the first pre-season game for both teams in the home arena of the Rockets developmental team located in the small Texan town of Hidalgo. The arena
was pretty much at capacity, with an announced attendance of 4,850 people.
It was the first game for Yao, the 7ft 6in player out of China, since he underwent surgery on his left foot in July 2009, forcing him to miss the entire season last year. In order to ease him back into
the line-up, the Rockets' coaching staff have said they will limit the seven-time All-Star to only 24 minutes a night. While Yao only played eight minutes, he was happy to be able to play at all.
"I'm happy that I can get on the court and I can run," Yao said. "I was running without pain ... and I think that's a good first step."
Yao scored three points off free throws, grabbed three rebounds, and missed his only shot attempt.
"I thought he did OK," Houston coach Rick Adelman said. "It's going to be a process. It's going to be a process for him and it's going to be a process for our team."
Meanwhile, Howard, as healthy as ever, played 27 productive minutes. He led his Magic team, who lost to the Boston Celtics in the Conference Finals last year, with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Vince Carter
added in 14 points while Rashard Lewis chipped in with 12. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was happy with his star centre’s season debut.
"I thought he played well," Van Gundy said. "He hit those two face-up bank shots. He put the ball on the floor and I thought he was real good. I thought our post play in general was real good."
But the story of the night was the emotional return of Yao, who was greeted by boisterous cheers from the crowd as he entered the arena. The 30-year-old entered the league eight years ago to a large amount
of hype. In many ways, he has met his lofty expectations with career averages of 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds, while shooting over 50 per cent from the field and over 80 per cent from the free-throw line.
But injuries have been a large problem, forcing Yao, a legitimate national hero in China, to miss all of last season and play less than 60 games in three other campaigns.
"He's getting back into it," Howard said of Yao. "He's still physical. I think he's just trying to get back right. I'm just happy to see him on the floor and hopefully he continues to play."
"I'm not really tired but I'm just trying to catch the speed," Yao said. "After 15 months of not playing a game I had to start somewhere."
Kevin Martin led the Rockets with 14 points, while Courtney Lee scored 12 and Aaron Brooks 11.
Tags: