Knicks 102
Rockets 95
Yao Ming proved last night he will be an All-Star for many years to come. But he still can’t beat the Knicks.
Yao established himself early in the low block. He rang up 15 points by halftime, but when he needed to make plays in the final two minutes, the show turned over to Clarence Weatherspoon and Latrell Sprewell, who made him look like a 7-foot-6 mortal despite his 24 points.
On the game-turning play in the Knicks’ 102-95 victory, Yao got the ball in the low left block and backed in Weatherspoon, ready to put the dagger into the Knicks with the Rockets ahead 92-91.
Before Yao could turn to nail another sweet turnaround, Sprewell slid over like a cat and stripped the ball from him, bounded downcourt and hit a 3-pointer from up top with 1:50 left. The Knicks led, 94-92, and Yao’s Garden debut was left productive but victory-less.
The Knicks’ physical play on Yao wasn’t as effective as the first meeting Dec. 27, but they eventually wore him down, and Kurt Thomas injured Yao’s elbow late in the second quarter after stripping the ball from him, sending him to the bench wincing.
Overall, Yao held up on the biggest stage.
“He was a lot more aggressive offensively; he’s grown a lot more since we saw him in December,” said Sprewell, who scored 13 points, five of them in the last two minutes after being benched for 10 minutes. “He’s a lot more confident. He lived up to the hype.”
Before Sprewell’s steal, Yao had a beautiful driving dunk, spinning past Weatherspoon on the left baseline with a left-hand dribble and dunking with his right, drawing a foul to boot. After the free throw, the Rockets were up 92-91.
After the Sprewell steal, Yao didn’t go away. He hit a fall-away in the lane, tying it at 94. After Spoon drove in the lane to make it 96-94, Yao committed his fifth turnover.
He had it again in the low block, Thomas smacked the ball away, grabbed Yao’s jersey, then the ball. Sprewell iced it with a pull-up jumper from the foul line, making it 98-94 with 50 seconds to go.
“He played great,” Thomas said of Yao. “The refs pretty much let me play physical the whole game as far as against Yao.”
So grateful was Thomas, he approached Yao in the tunnel hallway at halftime, making sure his elbow was OK.
Sprewell’s finish was a surprise; he was so quiet for three quarters, even getting benched for a 10-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters.
Sprewell seemed a little bothered by it.
“The toughest part is not to get frustrated,” Sprewell said. “It was tough to sit there, I’m not going to lie. I’m proud of myself, I kept [focused] on the game.”
Four Chinese fans in the front row held up a sign in Chinese – “We cheer for Yao Ming” – and they had a lot to cheer.
Yao made five of his first eight shots and had 15 points at halftime. Also, Cuttino Mobley was utterly unstoppable in the first half, scoring 22 points as the Rockets took a 14-point lead late in the first quarter.