Rockets 111, Warriors 107

When I arrived at Toyota Center tonight, I read this medical advisory:

Rockets guard/forward Tracy McGrady will not play tonight vs. Golden State (1/29/08) due to flu-like symptoms. He is being listed as day-to-day.

For the Rockets' sake, thank goodness Yao Ming recovered from his upper respiratory infection and played Tuesday night versus the Warriors.

Yao was dominant. His 36 points and 19 rebounds helped the Rockets (25-20) hold off a late surge by Golden State and defeat the Warriors 111 to 107.

Luther Head started in McGrady's place and scored 20 points and dished out six assists.

Rafer Alston added 17 points; 12 assists and eight rebounds. However, Rafer is buried so deep in the Rockets' fans' doghouse, many fans moaned and groaned each time Rafer took a shot. Rafer made just seven of 19 from the field; but, his ability to pass the ball to Yao Ming down the stretch of the fourth quarter was huge.

With Luis Scola and Luther Head in the starting line-up, the Rockets started the game great and outscored the Warriors 33 to 18. In fact the Rockets led by 20 (29 to 9) during the open period.

"Without Tracy, we needed to get off to a good start offensive which is why I put Luther in the game and Luis in the game," said Rick Adelman after the game. "We wanted to get of to a good start."

The Warriors' offense started clicking in the second quarter; but, Rafer Alston sank a three-point shot with 0.7 seconds left in the half to send the Rockets to the locker room with a 60 to 46 lead.

Golden State (27-19) made an early push in the third quarter to cut the Rockets' lead to just seven points (64 to 57); but, the Rockets scored seven straight points to push the lead back to 14 (71 to 57) with 6:37 left in the third quarter.

Then, the Warriors used balance scoring to outscore the Rockets 14 to 4 to cut the lead to 75 to 71 with 3:38 in the third.

Instead of folding, the Rockets responded to the challenge. Yao Ming scored five points during an 8-1 run to give the Rockets an 83 to 71 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Rockets' forward Steve Novak started the fourth period by draining two three-point shots and a 21-foot jumper shot to help the Rockets maintain the 12 point lead (94 to 82) with 8:22 left in the ball game.

However, the Warriors made a run which many Rockets' fans feared (and expected to happen).

At the 2:30 mark of the fourth quarter, Baron Davis' three-point shot capped off a 20 to 7 run to give the Warriors a 102 to 101 lead.

Yao Ming went to work and the Rockets efficiently executed the offense down the stretch. Rafer Alston did not take one shot in the final four minutes of the game; but, he got the ball to the big fella.

“It was decent, we had some times where we turned it over, when Yao (Ming) was making the power dribble and they were in there raking at the ball," said Rafer Alston. "But to finishing it off, that was the key. We finished it off by pounding inside and making them have to foul us and go to the free throw line and make some free throws.”

Yao posted up deep; drew fouls; knocked down six straight free throws; scored a 8-foot jump shot and kept the Warriors at bay as the Rockets finished the game with a 10 to 5 scoring burst to come away with the victory.

"Well, we had Yao Ming," said Shane Battier. "That was the difference. The big fellow was awesome tonight. He really put us on his back. He was aggressive and he just played a phenomenal game."

“I thought Yao played much more aggressively, and it seemed like he was pissed off because he hadn’t had success against us and he really showed it,” said Warriors forward Al Harrington.

The Rockets snapped a four-game losing streak to the Warriors with the win tonight.