Yao-led Rockets end skid by beating Raptors By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle TORONTO -- The smooth up-and-under scoop came after the kind of graceful dance step that should be impossible from a giant in size-18 Nikes. This would have been one of those Yao Ming moments to freeze frame as a sign that something greater is still possible this season. Yao, however, knew he would miss. This was not a night for soft swishes. These are not those sorts of times for the Rockets. But with that, Yao might have been more impressive than all the times he was so slick and deft. Yao would begin the game misfiring as he rarely has and the Rockets would fall into their familiar first-quarter funk. But the Rockets would not give in to their struggles and Yao would not allow them to lose, making the game-winning play on one end and the defensive stop on the other to lift the Rockets to a 97-95 win over the Toronto Raptors, snapping the Rockets' four-game losing streak. "He's not a one-dimensional, give-me-the-ball kind of guy," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "He'll get dirty out there." To Tomjanovich, "dirty" as opposed to pretty and soft, is among his greatest compliments. But Raptors veteran Antonio Davis, a center built for Bowflex commercials and whom Yao beat to the key last-minute rebound, offered perhaps greater praise. "You are watching," Davis said, "the future of the NBA." But this was a different soft of impressive because of how much Yao and the Rockets struggled. With the largest crowd at Air Canada Centre this season, 20,171, on hand to see him and Toronto's enormous Chinese community buzzing for weeks, he promptly missed six of his first seven shots. But Tomjanovich has been saying for weeks that pain could be good for his struggling team. It could inspire and toughen. On a night that he struggled and then triumphed, Yao demonstrated what Tomjanovich had been preaching. "He doesn't even fall into (doubt)," Rockets forward Maurice Taylor said. "He's a big-time player, regardless of being a rookie. He's one of the most poised rookies I've ever seen. He never gets flustered. You never see him get out of his comfort zone or anything like that. Even at the free throw line, he was just taking his time. He was calm. He didn't think anything of it." Long before Yao went to the line with the game in his hands, however, the Rockets had to overcome their own doubts. They had made 26.9 percent of their first quarter shots and seemed well on their way to their fourth consecutive game with a 20-point first-half deficit. Finally, however, the Rockets stood up to their struggles. They still trailed at halftime, 47-40. But James Posey and Eddie Griffin were shooting with renewed confidence. Steve Francis began taking the ball back to the rim. Even when the Rockets trailed by nine late in the third quarter, the Raptors' largest lead of the night, the Rockets would not collapse as they had in their losing streak. When Yao finished a fast break by taking a pass from Francis to a dunk and then hit a jumper, the game was tied, 88-88, with 1:33 left. The Rockets led by two after drives by Posey and Cuttino Mobley. But the Rockets would win the game not with slick finishes, but by overcoming what did not work. The Raptors tied the score when Davis drove on Yao and looked to dunk over him. Yao met Davis just before he could begin his slam, and smacked the ball away. He was called for his fifth foul, however, and Davis tied the game with 34.8 seconds left. The Rockets went back to Yao inside and he tried his scoop. But when he missed the shot, he was the first to the ball, forcing Jerome Williams to tackle him from behind to prevent him from putting in the rebound. "I anticipated that I might not get the ball in the basket and I was able to anticipate where the ball might come off the rim," Yao said. Yao, who had begun the game unable to make the most open of shots, swished both free throws with 26.7 seconds left to give the Rockets a 94-92 lead. "I told him, "Knock them down,' " Taylor said. "He was like it was no different like they were regular free throws. But they were huge free throws." The Raptors immediately put the ball in Vince Carter's hands and Carter got a step on Posey. Yao had been called for a foul on the Raptors' previous trip down the court, but stepped out to Carter, anyway. This time, Carter tried to wrap a shot around Yao and missed. "Anytime somebody sticks out their leg, it's a foul," Carter, who led the Raptors with 21. Posey got the rebound and was quickly fouled. He made two free throws. But the Raptors got a last chance. Alvin Williams made a turnaround 3 with 2.8 seconds left to cut the lead to 96-95. After Yao made one free throw, Voshon Lenard beat the buzzer with a 16-footer that bounced twice on the rim before falling away. Moments earlier, Francis had buried his head in Yao's chest in the center of the court while the losing streak began to fade away. Francis said he was caught up in the emotion. But he also seemed to be saying something about the heart just on the other side of his forehead. "I think I understood," Yao said. "Sometimes I can't express it, but I can understand his actions."
