Yao Scores Career-High 37 in Rockets’ Win
Yao Ming scored 21 of his career-high 37 points in the third quarter to cover up an awful game by Steve Francis, and the Houston Rockets won for the sixth time in seven games by beating the Orlando Magic 99-87 Sunday night.
Yao also grabbed 10 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season and sixth during the Rockets’ recent run.
Francis, Houston’s leading scorer, had only seven points – 10 below his average. He missed eight of 11 shots, and his first field goal didn’t come until 38.2 seconds remained in the third quarter.
Maurice Taylor scored 20 points, Cuttino Mobley had 12 and Jimmy Jackson added 11 for the Rockets. Mark Jackson filled in as playmaker, coming off the bench for 10 assists.
Tracy McGrady scored 31 points for Orlando, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. Tyronn Lue had 12 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Yao, used to regularly going against Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan in the Western Conference, took advantage of Orlando’s soft interior defense.
He made a career-high 15 field goals in 23 attempts and made all seven of his free throws. He broke his previous career best of 30 points – set Nov. 21, 2002 at Dallas – with two free throws at the 2:27 mark of the third quarter.
He scored 15 straight points for the Rockets in the third. For the period, Yao made seven of 11 shots.
Despite Yao’s performance, Houston led by just seven entering the fourth after McGrady hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points in the third quarter.
Yao came out 39 seconds into the fourth, but Taylor extended Houston’s lead to 87-75 by scoring 10 straight points.
The Rockets led by 11 with five minutes to go when Yao checked back in. He quickly hit a 17-foot jumper that gave Houston a 97-80 advantage.
Yao took advantage of a matchup against the undersized Andrew DeClercq, eight inches shorter and 55 pounds lighter, in the first half. At one point, Yao delivered a quick elbow to DeClercq’s face, caught a pass from Mobley, knocked DeClercq down and dunked to give the Rockets a nine-point lead.
Yao, Taylor and Kelvin Cato combined to score 30 of Houston’s 43 first-half points on 14-for-19 shooting.
Notes:@ Orlando guard Keith Bogans sat out the second half after bruising his right leg in a second-quarter collision with Yao. … Houston has won five straight from Orlando, although the Magic’s home record against the Rockets is 12-4. … Before the game, Orlando activated rookie guard Reece Gaines from the injured list. He had been out since Dec. 5 with right knee patella tendinitis and missed the last 26 games. He went scoreless in three minutes of garbage time.