[Quote] PAT RILEY, "Tonight Yao was great, there's nothing else you can say"

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...13nov13,0,5714685.story?coll=sfla-sports-heat


Yao makes O'Neal look rather small

By Ira Winderman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted November 13 2006

MIAMI · The game's most dominant big man flexed his muscles Sunday.

And Shaquille O'Neal could do little about it.

As if there was any doubt through this season's early schedule about the NBA's power transition, Houston's Yao Ming took on the self-proclaimed Most Dominant Ever and raised the ante Sunday, leading the Rockets to a 94-72 victory over the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Already on a tear, Yao proved to be a terror even when picking on someone close to his own size, as he closed with 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting and 14 rebounds

"Tonight Yao was great, there's nothing else you can say," Heat coach Pat Riley said.

By contrast, O'Neal came off as a mere mortal, closing with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting and 10 rebounds.

"I thought Shaq had some easy shots inside, he just didn't knock 'em down," Riley said. "He was getting good shots."

Not even 24 points from Heat guard Dwyane Wade or the 6-of-18 shooting of Rockets guard Tracy McGrady could impact the lopsidedness of Yao-O'Neal.

Yao was coming off a 35-point, 17-rebound, seven-block performance in Friday's 103-94 home victory over the Knicks, while O'Neal, who had missed the prior two games with a bruised left knee, was coming off an uneven 13-point performance in Friday's 113-106 victory in New Jersey.

Yao entered averaging 26.2 points and 9.3 rebounds, while O'Neal entered averaging 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds.

Against the 7-foot-6 Yao, O'Neal, at 7-1, actually looked rather diminutive. Nowhere did the matchup come off as lopsided as at the foul line, where Yao shot 12 of 13 to O'Neal's 3 of 9.

"Yao was a load," Riley said.

He also was gracious.

"He's great," the Rockets center said after the game of O'Neal. "It's really hard to score on him."

It was the first meeting between the centers in two seasons, with injuries keeping the two apart during last season's two meetings, both won by the Heat.

With O'Neal unable to bolster the offense, the Heat was left with little beyond Wade. In his search for more, Riley turned to Jason Kapono off the bench in the second half, after Dorell Wright was scoreless in seven first-half minutes.

The Heat had no answers over the final two periods, as it was outscored 55-30 in the second half, including 34-16 in the fourth quarter.

"We got our heads pretty much handed to us in the second half," Riley said.

The Heat shot .333 in the second half, compared to the Rockets' .568.

"Houston was very, very good in the second half," Riley said. "They're hard to score on anyhow."

Houston took control with a 7-0 run to end the third quarter, which produced a 60-56 lead, and never looked back. The Heat had 17 turnovers through three quarters, after committing only nine in Friday's victory in New Jersey.

Coming off a career-high 28 points in that victory against the Nets, Heat power forward Udonis Haslem this time could not get untracked. He shot 3 of 9, but did have 10 rebounds.

The Heat had pushed to a nine-point lead in the first quarter, which ended with a 25-22 advantage. The Heat took a 42-39 edge into the intermission.

Houston now has won four in a row after a 1-2 start, while the Heat fell back to .500 at 3-3.

Guard Bonzi Wells, who spurned a Heat free-agent offer last month in favor of a similar deal from the Rockets, was inactive.

Ira Winderman can be reached at iwinderman@sun-sentinel.com.