The two biggest NBA basketball stars in China played last night, but unfortunately they were both unimpressive for the 200 million+ fans watching worldwide. Houston Rockets Yao Ming scored only 12 points and looked lost on defensive and Milwaukee Bucks Yi Jianlian put up only 6 points as the Rockets beat the Bucks 91-83.
“Both of us struggled a little bit, but we got the win,” Yao downplayed why he didn’t play so well but understood the significance of the game. “It is big, to be honest, I was a little bit nervous last night. … It’s like a playoff game or something.” Yi was a bit more reserved saying “As far as we’re concerned, in the grand scope of things, it’s another regular-season game.”
Yao did grab 12 rebounds for the Rockets but got into early foul trouble which limited his aggressiveness under the boards. The Rockets were led by Tracy McGrady who scored a game high 33 points and Rafer Alston who scored 10 points and had 9 assists.
The Bucks were led by Andrew Bogut who scored 21 points and Charlie Villanueva who came off the bench to score 14 points.
Both Yao and Yi had off nights from their season averages - Yao is averaging 22.1 points per game and 11 assists per game - Yi is averaging 9.6 points per game and 5.8 assists per game.
