China scores 88 point win with wounded Yao benched

BEIJING (Reuters) – China romped over Saudi Arabia for a
98-10 win at the Asian Basketball Championships, even with star
center Yao Ming on the bench and only its second-string team on
the court, Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

The hapless Saudis managed only four points in the first
quarter of Wednesday’s game and only two points in each of the
following quarters.

With the lop-sided victory, three-time defending champions
China earned a semi-final berth, where it will meet South
Korea.

NBA superstar Yao, who plays for the Houston Rockets, never
got off the bench, in part to allow his jaw, slashed open by an
opponent’s elbow in China’s Tuesday 87-73 win over Lebanon, to
heal.

Yao took a flying elbow to the chin early in the second
half of that game, Xinhua said, and was so angry when no foul
was called that he smeared blood streaming from his jaw onto
the officials’ table before storming into the locker room.

The 2.29-meter (7-foot-5) center ended up getting four
stitches.