Yao's first 3 locks up Rockets' win By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle OAKLAND, Calif. -- For more than six minutes, the Rockets took the usual shots. They took the same drives to the basket that had worked before, the same open jumpers. They ran the same plays. They had seen a 16-point lead slip to five. They were holding their breath as if their only solution was the game ending before the Golden State Warriors could score those last five points. But after six minutes in which nothing would go in, and the Rockets seemed to be turned inside out, they were. Their point guard scored on an offensive rebound and putback, and their 7-5 center nailed a 3. And the Rockets escaped with a 117-107 victory Friday night, their 15th consecutive victory against the Warriors in Oakland. But this one was unique. It was the first win since acting head coach Larry Smith began guiding the team in Rudy Tomjanovich's absence Monday. And Yao Ming -- who had drawn the largest crowd to ever see a game at the Arena in Oakland, 20,193 -- knocked down the first 3-pointer of his career to clinch the win, keeping the Rockets in an eighth-place tie with the Suns for eighth in the Western Conference. "That was crazy, the end of the game, our last two," Francis said. With the shot, Yao had 23 points to go with 14 rebounds. Francis had his first triple double of the season, with a season-high 12 assists. Cuttino Mobley led the Rockets with 26 points. But the shot that will be remembered will be the last shot the Rockets tried. <b>"That was perfect," no less a 3-point shooting expert than Glen Rice said. "That was great form, perfect technique. Little bend at the knee. Follow through. Excellent. We'll take that any day." </b> Yao said there won't be many more of those. But in many ways, he had more important points down the stretch. With a lead that had reached 19 down to five, the Rockets had gone 6:15 without a field goal. The Warriors put together a 12-1 run, with the Rockets missing four shots and committing four turnovers. But Yao made four free throws to help the Rockets take the lead to 107-100 with 2:51 left and said he knew at those moments, the game was on the line. "I love that feeling," he said. Bob Sura and Francis each made a free throw. But eventually, the Rockets would have to make a basket. Just one. It came when Moochie Norris intercepted a Sura pass and sent Mobley on a fast break. Adonal Foyle caught up to Mobley to block away his layup. But Francis gathered the rebound and put it back in for a 110-101 lead. "Sometimes you feel it," Francis said of the growing pressure of going so long without a field goal. "But then again, you just think of the next series, the next bucket. It's kind of hard when you're up by that much to play like you had been." But the Rockets' scoring drought had come after a brilliant offensive run earlier in the half. But in a strange way, the Rockets got their offense going by solving their defensive problem. After Antawn Jamison ripped through the Rockets for 20 first-half points, James Posey shut him down with a manic fronting defense. Jamison had one second-half point, missing all eight of his attempts. "I was trying to deny him, front him and make it tough," Posey said. "If I can do that, by that time the shot clock is going down and they have to go to another option. It can make it tough for him. Or at least I can make him get the ball where he doesn't want it and make it tough for him." The Warriors, understandably, were determined to get the ball to their leading scorer. Instead, their offense fell apart in waves of turnovers and rushed shots. The Rockets -- and particularly Posey -- got out on the break, and the Rockets blew through the third quarter as they rarely have on the road this season. Jamison missed all six of his shots in the quarter. And the Rockets rolled through a 13-0 run midway through the quarter to build a 19-point lead. Posey had 13 points in the period. And the Rockets took a 16-point lead into the fourth quarter. But late in the Rockets' run, the Warriors gave the ball to 5-4 guard Earl Boykins and found something to get them back in the game. At first it seemed to be just a nice diversion when Boykins floated two running jumpers in over the 7-5 Yao. But that was just the start. Boykins made his next five shots, cutting around picks and falling away on jumpers. The Warriors made their 12-1 run without the benefit of good shooting. But they didn't have to shoot all that well. The Rockets continually put them at the line and could not get a shot to fall. When Foyle followed a missed Boykins free throw with a jumper in the lane, the Warriors had cut the Rockets' lead to 103-98, and the Rockets searched for the one (or two) baskets they needed. "Right now, every win is a big win with the playoffs in mind," said Smith, who was given the game ball. "It's always great to come back here," said Smith, the former Warrior. "I love it here." http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/rox/1830945
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- When Steve Francis started to lose his cool, Yao Ming told him to cool it -- and that showed Francis how far the Chinese rookie has come in the NBA. Francis had 13 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds and all five Houston starters scored in double figures as the Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 117-107 on Friday night in a key game for playoff positioning. ``He told me to chill out,'' said Francis, who became frustrated because he thought he was being fouled late in the game. ``Yao showed me he's maturing. My big man took care of me.'' The Rockets stayed tied with Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, 3 1/2 games ahead of 10th-place Golden State. The Suns beat Washington 109-83 on Friday. Yao had 23 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and five turnovers for Houston, which has never lost in The Arena in Oakland. The Rockets are 12-0 in the building and are victorious in their last 15 visits to Oakland. Yao calmly made his first NBA 3-pointer with 43 seconds left, setting an example for Francis. ``He's our leader and we need him to lead,'' Yao said. ``If he falls apart, it can cause the whole team to fall apart. Everyone can see that.'' Several members of San Francisco's large Asian community waited outside the Houston's downtown hotel on Thursday night in hopes of meeting Yao. At the game, Jane Gong, 25, who was born in China, held a sign in Chinese reading, ``Please sign an autograph for my mom!'' She had a Yao bobblehead for him to sign that she planned to send to her mother in Shanghai as a surprise. Cuttino Mobley had 26 points and James Posey added 21 for Houston, which lost the first two games of its five-game Western road trip. Francis had his sixth career triple-double, and his 12 assists were two below his career high. Gilbert Arenas had 25 points, six assists and five rebounds for Golden State, the league's turnaround team under first-year coach Eric Musselman. The Warriors had won three of their last five. They haven't made the postseason in nine years. Antawn Jamison had 21 points and eight rebounds, but had only one point and one rebound in the second half. ``It's an opportunity lost, but it's still not over with,'' Jamison said. ``We play Phoenix again. We've just got to do our end of the bargain. If we continue playing like we did before this game and continue to execute and make strides forward we might put ourself in the position.'' After trailing big, Golden State got within five twice in the final 3:29, but couldn't get closer despite holding the Rockets to two field goals over the final 7:25. The Rockets played their third game without coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who is in Houston recovering after tests that detected a cancerous tumor on his bladder lining. Assistant Larry Smith is filling in during the road trip. The Warriors pulled within two, 57-55, on a basket by Erick Dampier with 9:14 remaining in the third period, but the Rockets answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Posey and Mobley. Those 3s started a 21-4 run over the next four minutes as Houston built a 78-59 lead. The Warriors hurt themselves by being sloppy with the ball, committing seven of their 15 turnovers in the third. Earl Boykins kept Golden State in the game with 14 straight points during one stretch, including his team's final 10 points in the third quarter and first two baskets in the fourth as the Warriors pulled within 90-78 with 10:24 left. Boykins, referred to as ``Sparkplug,'' finished with 22 points, and the Warriors got 47 points from their bench. Troy Murphy returned to the Golden State starting lineup after missing two games with a bruised right knee, but was limited to one point and four rebounds in 14 minutes. Houston shot 61.9 percent in the first quarter and led by as many as 10. The Warriors scored seven straight points in the final 1:17 of the first half, butMobley made a 3 at the buzzer as the Rockets took a 53-48 lead into halftime. Notes The crowd of 20,193 was the largest at home in Warriors team history. The previous high had been 20,181 on March 6, 2001, against the L.A. Lakers. ... Musselman had three friends fly in for Friday's game -- two from Florida and one from Hawaii. ``It's interesting, you have a lot more friends when you win,'' Musselman said. ... Some Asian fans got too close to the court beforethe game as they tried to take pictures of Yao and security stepped in.
No 3's from Yao. He may be the 3rd or 4th best 3-pt shooter on our team, but it would be silly if every player in our starting line-up took a 3-pter each game. Of course, I'd like to see more than ONE from him per season, but surely not one per game. Maybe one every 4 or 5 games. Just so the defense respects his range more, and we can work on a few more new plays where we open up the middle for Steve.
That depends. If shaq james up 3's all game long, Yao will let his treys get loose. Remember Yao said he once had a 3 pt show down against Wang zhizhi back in China?
Sabonis took over 100 3's in each of his first 3 season. (Six year average is 68+ per season). I don't see anything wrong with Yao developing this kind of range as long as he stays around Sabonis's 33.3%. C'mon Yao...never say never.
What I would like couldn't be measured in any per/game basis, but right now Yao often gets the ball at the top of the key on rotation, or just above the left elbow, and as soon as he gets it you, me, and the entire defense know that he's just getting it so our guards can run behind him and re-acquire, or so that he can dish it into the left baseline... I think that if he shot occassionally from there, even beyond the line, and moreover looked to drive from there ( he can shoot off the dribble ) to gget within his huge step range to go to the rim or to pull up and shoot/dish off, then his getting into the triple threat position would give some purpose for his having the ball out there...as is the defense doesn't even pay attention to him out there, it's a wasted touch, and essentially eliminates him from the offense while he has the ball. If the defense had to close out on him when he get's it out there, it opens up many, many options.
It really depends on how well and consistently he can drain the 3. Reports earlier had it that he's a pretty good shooter from the outside. If he can drop them as well as Sabonis, KG, then why not let him develop that skill to allow for more options and pull more defenders out. I'm not advocating that he starts trying 3-pointers in every game, but to slowly ease that option in over time until he and the team gets comfortable with it. But imagine a team with a 7-5 center who can nail from the outside... it really complements a team with guards who can and love to drive to the hoop all the time.
I agree. If it's ok for Eddie to do it, Yao should too. He can make just as many if not more then EG.
Honestly it was the best looking shot I have seen ANY Rocket take all year and I wouldnt mind seein Yao take the last second shots from the 3 point line lol
Yao's trey was sweet... It's not like Hakeem shooting treys'... Yao can actually shoot the rock... I would like to see him do it more often, but only when were winning...
Yao should take 1-2 treys a game. When we play the Lakers, Yao should have lots of possible open looks because I doubt Shaq is going to go all the way out there to defend.
Watch your tongue. Don't ever say Hakkem couldn't shoot. From 20 ft. in, he could drain the jumper....He didn't really have three point range, but he could rain. You must forget 18ft. turnarounds.
Forgive him. He obviously has not followed Hakeem's career. Hakeem was a very good shooter. His jumpers from top of key were money. Dreamshake was a fadeaway jumper. I guess people already forgot about his 3 point shot to close out the magic in Game 4 in NBA Finals?
