Rockets Take Center Stage

It was a sight, Shaquille O’Neal a head shorter than the man he defended, stooping to gather basketballs that had been swatted from his fingertips, straining to find the way over or around another man.

Not outplayed. Just pushed.

When his first four shots were blocked, three of them by 7-foot-5 Yao Ming, it was O’Neal who took the expression of a man who knew then that he was in a fight.

And when O’Neal backed into Yao, “boom-boom” first, he said, it was Yao who leaned over and draped himself on O’Neal’s shoulders, a human cape for Superman, into overtime, where the Houston Rockets eventually defeated the Lakers, 108-104, Friday night at Compaq Center.

The event was O’Neal, whose body of work stands with Chamberlain and Russell and Abdul-Jabbar and Olajuwon among great centers, against the rookie Yao, 22, fresh from China, all raw game and grace. O’Neal had 31 points, 18 in the fourth quarter and overtime, and 13 rebounds. Yao had 10 points -- on five-of-14 shooting -- 10 rebounds and six blocks.

O’Neal, who frequently called Yao “my brother,” said, “That just shows I get respect. He’s 7-5 and they still have to double- and triple-[team]. Don’t say ‘he’ [blocked my shots], say, ‘they.’ ”

While everyone gaped at the 7-footers, the 6-footer, Steve Francis, stole the game.

Running more than a foot beneath Yao, Francis scored 44 points, some of them while being hounded by Kobe Bryant. The game turned finally on a defensive play, and a referee’s call, and on Phil Jackson’s reaction to it, costing the Lakers three points and a 102-98 deficit with 1:11 left in overtime.

O’Neal fouled a driving Francis, referee Monty McCutchen called it flagrant, giving the Rockets two shots and the ball, and Jackson was called for a technical foul arguing it.

“I’m sure in replay he’ll have second thoughts about it,” Jackson said of the call.

Regulation turned finally on a missed free throw by Bryant, the second of two with 18.8 seconds left and the Lakers leading by three points. Francis made the three-point basket that tied it.

“It would have given us a one-point lead instead of going into overtime,” Bryant said. “That simple.”

Bryant scored 22 points, but missed 16 of 21 field-goal attempts. Cuttino Mobley scored 29 points for the Rockets, for 73 points for the starting backcourt. The Rockets won for the sixth time in seven games.

The Lakers lost for the first time in six. They missed 18 of 23 three-point baskets, and they believed they were jobbed by McCutchen’s call late. But, in game, televised nationally, that also reached at least 112 million Chinese households, impossibly hyped for the regular season, the focus was in the middle, on O’Neal, who’d been accused of racism for his mocking Chinese dialect, and on Yao, who forgave him quickly.

They took it to the court before a hysterical crowd, and Yao played well enough early.

“He got some credibility, I think, in this game,” Jackson said.

The promise of Yao brought nothing new from O’Neal’s game until the fourth quarter. He was still playing around the rim, rather than over it, what coaches and teammates presume is a result of September surgery.

Houston Coach Rudy Tomjanovich sent strong-side guards and small forwards to O’Neal. So the Lakers attempted three-point baskets, wildly.

But, O’Neal, a new fu manchu mustache pushing its way from around his mouth, began to force his offense on Yao, who appeared to fatigue. Late in the game, O’Neal drop-stepped and dunked on Yao, who tumbled backward.

In Yao’s first 27 starts, no opposing center had led his team in scoring.

“He wore me out,” Yao said.

O’Neal met Yao near the sideline and whispered something in his ear, and Yao grinned.

Yao stood much taller than O’Neal. Still, most of his offense came falling away from the basket with jump shots and hook shots, while O’Neal’s came moving toward it.

“One of the positive things about America is that everybody can fight for equality,” Yao said, and then smiled. “But, on the court, sometimes there’s inequality.”

He laughed, as did many around him. Yao seemed satisfied with his effort, with his first go at O’Neal.

There is a notion that someday Yao will dominate as O’Neal has, and that in the meantime O’Neal will get his best low-post fight since Alonzo Mourning was healthy and in his prime. It will take time. The matchup was interesting, and often entertaining, and by the end it belonged to O’Neal, who made 13 of 26 shots.

Yao made three of his first five shots, blocked a dunk attempt by O’Neal, and when his teammates slapped his hand, he shrugged and shook his head, as though he were somewhat amazed too.

“He’s a nice guy and I have nothing against him,” O’Neal said. “I have no enemies, the Asians, the blacks, the whites, they are all my brothers. This was a good game for Yao. I was maybe trying a little too hard. Yao Ming is my brother. I’m disappointed in the media making a big deal about what I said.”

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Front and Center

Some of the NBA’s greatest matchups at center:

*--* WILT CHAMBERLAIN vs. BILL RUSSELL

*--*

First meeting: Nov. 7, 1959

This matchup of Goliaths was a center of attention in the NBA for nearly a decade. Russell, with rebounding, defense and unselfish play, gave the Celtics mystique. Chamberlain set scoring records (100 points in a game, 50.4-point-per-game average in a season) but had to concede Lord of the Rings title to Russell.

*--* KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR vs. WILT CHAMBERLAIN

*--*

First meeting: Oct. 24, 1969

Chamberlain saw the player then known as Lew Alcindor as a mountain he could conquer. Alas, as with Russell, his master plan wasn’t to scale.

*--* KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR vs. BILL WALTON

*--*

First meeting: Jan. 19, 1975

Ten national championships, the pyramid of success, and this matchup of UCLA’s most notable players was John Wooden’s legacy. Wooden could be proud of what he helped nurture -- the precise, textbook play of Walton and the drop-in-the-bucket ease of Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring.

*--* PATRICK EWING vs. HAKEEM OLAJUWON

*--*

First NBA meeting: Jan. 18, 1986

Somehow, their battles in the NBA mosh pit, including the 1994 Finals, never quite generated the excitement of their summit meeting in the 1984 NCAA championship game, in which Ewing-led Georgetown phi slamma

jamma-ed Olajuwon-led Houston.

*--* HAKEEM OLAJUWON vs. SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

*--*

First meeting: Nov. 24, 1992

Shaq was a rapping-genie-with-an-attitude in the making when he had the Magic carpet pulled from under him in the 1995 NBA Finals, getting schooled by an every-trick-in-the-book Olajuwon.

-- Jim Rhode

For more on the historical matchups, D2

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Tale of the Tape

O’Neal outscored Yao, but Rockets won the game.

*--* Shaquille O’Neal Yao Ming 47 MINUTES 38 13-26 FIELD GOALS 5-14 5-6 FREE THROWS 0-0 31 POINTS 10 5 DUNKS 1 4 FOULS 5 4 OFF. REBOUNDS 1 9 DEF. REBOUNDS 9 4 ASSISTS 3 2 TURNOVERS 1 0 BLOCKED SHOTS 6 0 STEALS 0

*--*

Long Road Back

The team with the worst record to make the Western Conference playoffs last season finished 44-38. How the Lakers need to finish the season to reach that record:

*--* WINS LOSSES TO REACH 44 38 CURRENT 18 21 MUST GO 26 17

*--*

GAMES OUT OF PLAYOFF SPOT...3