ROTATION: Starters -- Point guard Rafer Alston; Shooting guard David Wesley; Small forward Tracy McGrady; Power forward Juwan Howard; Center Yao Ming. Bench -- Guard Luther Head; Forward Ryan Bowen; Forward Stromile Swift; Forward/Center Maciej Lampe; Guard/Forward Keith Bogans; Guard Bob Sura; Forward Chuck Hayes; Center Dikembe Mutombo; Guard Richie Frahm.
--Rockets guard David Wesley, trying to come back from a broken rib, worked in a series of shooting drills with a "rib protector" vest on Wednesday. He hoped to follow that with a practice and a return to the court Friday or Sunday in Los Angeles. But Wesley said he was just trying to live up to the example set by Jeff Van Gundy. Wesley said that Van Gundy told that when he was a point guard at Nazareth College, he played with seven broken ribs.
Houston Rockets center Yao Ming will have surgery this weekend on his broken left foot and the injury could take four to six months to heal, general manager Carroll Dawson said Tuesday.
The 7-foot-6 Yao was hurt in the first quarter of an 85-83 loss to Utah on Monday.
An MRI performed in Houston on Tuesday showed a crack in the fifth metatarsal bone of the foot, Dawson said.
"It can be fixed two ways," Dawson said. "You could just put a cast on it, but it takes forever.
The Houston Rockets looked like they were on the verge of a comeback against San Antonio midway through the fourth quarter on Saturday night. The Spurs shrugged off the challenge, scored when they needed to and put the Rockets away. Tony Parker scored 23 points and Tim Duncan added 14 to help the Spurs keep pace with Dallas for the best record in the West with a 92-77 victory.
About the only thing the Houston Rockets have had going for them lately was the strong play of Yao Ming. So the main thing the Dallas Mavericks focused on Tuesday night was making him work for everything he got. Yao wound up being pestered into his worst game in a month, scoring only four points by halftime then taking only one shot in the third quarter of an 88-72 victory by the Mavericks.
Winning is no surprise to these Clippers. Sam Cassell scored 24 points to lead the Clippers past the Houston Rockets 99-91 on Monday night, pushing the franchise to 13 games over .500 for the first time since the 1975-76 season -- when it was called the Buffalo Braves. Corey Maggette added 20 points for the Clippers, who, appropriately, were wearing orange and black Braves uniforms from the...
Even with their chances of making the playoffs diminishing, Yao Ming and Rafer Alston haven't given up on the Houston Rockets' season. Yao and Alston each scored 22 points, carrying the Rockets in the closing minutes of a 93-92 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday night that snapped a six-game losing streak.
The Cleveland Cavaliers got their second overtime win of the week and LeBron James took down the only NBA team he'd yet to beat. James scored 36 points, including the go-ahead dunk with 3:24 left in overtime, to lead the Cavaliers to a 104-102 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Four days after hitting his first game-winner in the final seconds for a 120-118 overtime victory over Charlotte,...
The Houston Rockets put together one of their best performances of the season, too late to matter for a team out of playoff contention. Yao Ming had 29 points and 10 rebounds, and the Rockets routed the Seattle SuperSonics 115-87 on Wednesday night. Stromile Swift and newly acquired Richie Frahm had 16 points apiece for the Rockets, who shot 52 percent (42-of-81) and outrebounded Seattle 46-32 to...