We were still outscored by 35-28 in the fourth quarter. Don't get too giddy. Golden State was still able to exploit the matchup late. Fortunately, we had built up a big enough lead early in the game to weather the storm. Do we win this game if we don't start the game on a 29-9 run? I don't know. Also, the Rockets were +6 against Golden State when Yao wasn't on the floor. So it's not like this game demonstrated that we had no chance of beating them without Yao late in the fourth. Yao was awesome, don't get me wrong. But defensively, this matchup is still a huge concern for me late in games. I don't think it's wise to eliminate any of your options. In particular, if over the course of the game the Rockets are struggling to get Yao the ball we shouldn't just expect that to change like flipping a light switch when it counts in the fourth quarter.
