Print
Monday November 13, 2006 1:29 AM


Yao outduels Shaq as Rockets rout Heat


Houston 94, Miami 72

Game Recap: Box Score

 


Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer


MIAMI -- Shortly after the doors of the visiting locker room swung open for the media to enter Sunday night, Rockets reserve center Dikembe Mutombo directed the group of reporters to the back of the room.

He figured everyone showed up to talk to the guy sitting under the locker with a No. 11 written on it.

"All the media can go over and interview the new league MVP," said Mutombo, pointing towards the locker of Rockets center Yao Ming. "He's the best center in the league."

Who can argue anymore?

Behind one of the best performances of his young career, the Rockets' big man dominated his latest showdown against Shaquille O'Neal and carried Houston to a stunning 94-72 victory over the defending champion Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena.

The Rockets (5-2) picked up their fourth straight win and have now thumped last season's NBA Finals participants, Dallas and Miami, by a combined 53 points in two early-season games.

Besides leaving South Beach with a big win over the NBA's defending champs, the Rockets left town with suddenly the NBA's most dominating player in the paint.

Yao, who is off to the best start of his five-year career, scored 34 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in his most impressive performance against O'Neal since the two giants began squaring off in the middle.

The Rockets center is clearly entering his prime and has arguably become the game’s best big man.

"The big fella is playing at his best," Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said. "I don’t know if he can get better. He's phenomenal out there, man. Now, I know what it feels like to sit back and watch a great player right before my eyes. Guys I played with in the past got caught up in the moment just watching something great. That’s what I'm doing right now, watching something great."

Despite down-playing the comparisons to Shaq before the game, Yao clearly made his case as the league’s best center on Sunday.

He had little trouble sinking face-up jumpers over O'Neal and dazzled nearly 500 season-ticket holders from Houston with his hook shot. He scored 20 points in the second half, including a pair of dunks that he made by beating O'Neal down the court.

O'Neal scored only one point in the fourth quarter, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite finally getting the better of O'Neal, Yao wasn't willing to elevate himself over the Heat’s big man after the game.

"He is the dominant center in this league, even at his age," said Yao, referring to the 34-year old Shaq. "He's not the same player in the regular season as he is in the playoffs. If it was the playoffs, I would have seen a totally different Shaq. I would say the regular season doesn’t matter. Maybe one day I could meet him in the Finals. That’s a totally different Shaq at that level."

O'Neal said he did not see any big changes in Yao's game.

"He's the same,” O'Neal said. "He's just big and 7-foot-6. Yao is really just doing what he’s supposed to be doing. He hit a lot of tough turnaround jumpers. He’s pretty much the same."

Behind Yao's elevated play, the Rockets overcame a 42-39 halftime deficit and found their shooting touch after knocking down only 35.9 percent of their shots in the first half.

Houston bolted to an 11-0 run between the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth to snare the lead.

McGrady, who had 12 points and eight assists, and Luther Head took care of the rest as the Rockets’ swingman found the shooting guard wide-open on the right side of the arc twice for a pair of three pointers to stretch the lead to 74-66.

Houston never let up after that in scoring the victory over the defending champs on Miami’s home court.

"It should be a statement to us," Head said. "We now know we can go in a tough atmosphere like this against a great team and get a win."

Yao, of course, made a statement of his own, even if he wasn't gushing over it after the game.

"Every time I score against (O'Neal), I’m happy like a kid," Yao said. "I feel like a kid getting candy on Halloween because it's really too hard to score against him. Too hard. He’s just a great player."

Yao isn't so bad either.