Yao scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 26 minutes before Van Gundy kept him on the bench for the entire fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets edged the Sacramento Kings, 88-86, in the first NBA game played in China.
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Kings-Rockets: 300k |
But the overflow crowd of 11,333 at Shanghai's city gymnasium didn't affect the way Van Gundy coached the preseason game for the Rockets. With the fans chanting for Yao in the fourth quarter, Van Gundy kept him as well as Tracy McGrady, who made just 3-of-11 shots for 12 points, on the bench.
Yao excited the crowd with a dunk in the first quarter, but made just 4-of-10 shots from the field. He converted all six of his free throws and had one blocked shot, but committed five turnovers and was whistled for four fouls.
"I felt really nervous out there," Yao said. "But I was very happy to play again for the fans in Shanghai."
While Yao and McGrady sat, David Hawkins, a rookie from Temple, gave Houston the lead for good, 85-84, flipping a layup high off the backboard with 1:24 remaining. After Sacramento's David Bluthenthal missed a 3-point attempt, Reece Gaines converted a pair of free throws with 34 seconds remaining to increase the lead to 87-84. Gaines was acquired in the seven-player deal which brought McGrady to Houston.
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Juwan Howard, who was also acquired in the McGrady trade, blocked a shot by Songaila in the final seconds to preserve the win.
Brad Miller led the Kings with 19 points and Mike Bibby added 17. Chris Webber had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The teams will play again Sunday in Beijing.