Yao, Rockets stand tall Tough defense keeps O'Neal under control By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle When the Rockets dream, this is what they see. They see Steve Francis explosive and under control. They see Cuttino Mobley going by Kobe Bryant and passing off the dribble as he never has before. And more than anything, they see Yao Ming going at Shaquille O'Neal, taking him on almost as if he was just another big man throwing his body in Yao's path. Reality was better. The Rockets might not have seen the Lakers at full strength or their best. But the Rockets picked the last game before the All-Star break to produce perhaps their most complete performance, using a spectacular second half to blow out the Lakers 102-87 before a Toyota Center sellout of 18,218 on Wednesday night. "We envisioned we could play like this," forward Maurice Taylor said. "We thought we could get this type of intensity and this level of play against the best teams in the league. It felt good to see everybody and everything come together, scoring, defense, low turnovers. When we put a complete game together, we feel like we could play with anybody in the league." The Rockets had their best shooting night of the season, making 40 of 73 (54.8 percent) of their shots. For the first time this season, three players -- Yao, Francis and Mobley -- had at least 20 points. Yao's 29 led the way. But the rest of the team still made nearly half its shots. Francis made nine of 11 shots, had seven rebounds and six assists. Mobley had a season-high 10 assists. "I don't know who can beat us when that happens," Mobley said about him, Francis and Yao combining for 71 points. "We were aggressive, and that's the main key. You have to not give them an option of who to shut down because everybody is clicking." But while Francis and Mobley carried the Rockets to a 16-point lead with 5 1/2 minutes left, Yao closed the deal. Yao made all four of his shots in a 15-point fourth quarter, fouling out O'Neal along the way and outscoring him 29-24. Yao struggled early against O'Neal, making just three of his first nine shots while O'Neal got three of his four blocked shots. Then Yao went at O'Neal on drives and used his jump hook to shield O'Neal from the ball. "I think you have to make adjustments through the game if you're a player playing against the best player in the league," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I thought Yao did that well. He went to his jump hook so he could protect the ball a little bit more, drove and spun." Yao said hours earlier that he would like to consider his matchups with O'Neal "just another game" but that the media attention, while far short of last season's, would not allow it. However, he thought his calmer attitude about facing O'Neal might have sparked his play. "I wasn't too nervous today," he said. "I was fairly laid back. We played as a team. Everybody played together. There was great chemistry. They couldn't get a hold of what we were trying to do. "At least for today, they couldn't just guard one or two people and stop us offensively." But the Rockets' defense also swarmed O'Neal inside, holding him to just five of 12 shooting. Bryant, in his first game since cutting the index finger on his right hand, made four of seven shots for 14 points, rarely looking to test his ability to handle the ball through traffic on drives. Playing one of the few teams that never double-team him, Yao got enough shots to make all of Shanghai and half of Beijing happy. He made 10 of 21 shots -- his second-most attempts this season -- in 37 minutes, while making nine of 11 free throws. His finest moment might have been when he tipped an offensive rebound off the backboard and over O'Neal's reach, then spun him around for a slam. The teams traded the lead for the next two minutes until the Rockets went on a 12-4 run capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Mobley and Jim Jackson. Along the way, Francis and Gary Payton dueled with Francis crossing over Payton before pulling up from 22 feet then throwing down a hard alley-oop dunk. Payton answered with consecutive spin moves to the hole. But with the game still very much up for grabs early in the fourth quarter, the Rockets' offense took off when bodies began to collide and crash. Kelvin Cato drew a charge on O'Neal that he will feel today. Francis flew past Derek Fisher and threw himself toward all of O'Neal's 340 pounds. O'Neal took Francis down with a full body block and a bit of a swing of his right arm for a flagrant-1 foul. Francis got up to sink both free throws to give the Rockets a 16-point lead. The lead was back at 16 with 5 1/2 minutes left on a Francis jumper. After an O'Neal free throw and a Bryant trey, Yao nailed a hook over O'Neal. He beat him on a drive to his left. And after O'Neal put in a follow for a three-point play that brought the Lakers within 95-83, O'Neal tried to reach over Yao to contest an entry pass, smacking Yao for his sixth foul with 3:20 remaining. Two minutes later, Van Gundy began clearing his bench to give his starters curtain calls. "We definitely think we are capable of playing like that throughout the season," Francis said. "I thought we played pretty hard in the San Antonio game and the effort carried over to this game. Our big man did a marvelous job of neutralizing Shaquille O'Neal. Tonight was a dominant game for Yao inside, and we got him the ball almost every single possession where he needed to get it. "Hopefully, with the rest of the games left, we can use this as a focal point to get better." ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great game
