Yao Ming might as well have squashed the Golden State Warriors like ants.
The 7-foot-6 Chinese star scored 19 of his season-high 33 points in the fourth quarter, and had 14 rebounds and five assists in the Houston Rockets’ 131-112 home victory over the Warriors on Friday night.
Yao was 9-for-9 from the line in the final quarter and 17-of-19 overall.
“I’m just attacking the rim,” Yao said. “If I catch it in the paint and turn around and draw contact, seven or eight times out of 10, the referee will give you the call.”
Ronny Turiaf and Andris Biedrins fouled out trying to stop Yao.
“Yao plays like he’s 8 feet tall,” Golden State’s Corey Maggette said. “It’s hard for a small lineup to defend him inside and then when we got in foul trouble, it was impossible to stop him.”
In other NBA games Friday night, it was: the Los Angeles Lakers 106, Washington 104; Boston 93, Portland 78; Cleveland 97, Indiana 73; Orlando 98, Oklahoma City 89; Utah 114, Toronto 87; Philadelphia 96, Detroit 91; New Jersey 113, Minnesota 84; Memphis 93, the Los Angeles Clippers 81; Atlanta 98, New York 95; and Milwaukee 101, Charlotte 96.
added 28 points for the Rockets, and Rafer Alston and Von Wafer had 18 points apiece. The Rockets were 13-of-21 from 3-point range.
Golden State’s Stephen Jackson scored 26 points before he was ejected with 1:35 left. Maggette added 23 points, and Jamal Crawford had 22.
Golden State coach Don Nelson was ejected late in the third quarter, and Houston finished with a 30-11 run in its highest-scoring game of the season.
The Warriors have lost eight straight.
Lakers 106, Wizards 104
At Washington, Kobe Bryant banked in a running 12-foot jumper over Caron Butler with 25 seconds left for Los Angeles, then went 1-for-2 at the line 10 seconds later.
After Bryant missed the free throw, Butler had a chance to win it for Washington, but missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Bryant was 5-for-17 from the field and finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Andrew Bynum had a season-high 19 points, along with 10 rebounds, and Pau Gasol had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Butler led Washington, down by 20 in the fourth quarter, with 26 points.
Celtics 93, Trail Blazers 78
At Boston, Ray Allen scored 19 points, and Rajon Rondo had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Boston’s 11th straight victory.
oot.
Oden had five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes before picking up his sixth foul on a questionable call with about four minutes left.
Cavaliers 97, Pacers 73
At Cleveland, Anderson Varejao, with thousands of fans wearing curly, redheaded hair pieces in his honor, didn’t miss a shot and scored 17 points in the first half in Cleveland’s seventh straight victory.
LeBron James had a season-low 11 points. Unbeaten after 11 home games, Cleveland has won 15 of 16 since starting the season 1-2. Troy Murphy led Indiana with 15 points.
Magic 98, Thunder 89
At Orlando, Fla., Dwight Howard had 21 points and 23 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson added 15 points for Southeast Division-leading Orlando.
Russell Westbrook had 19 points for Oklahoma City. The Thunder are 2-18.
Jazz 114, Raptors 87
At Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur had 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting for Utah in Jay Triano’s first game as Toronto’s interim coach.
Paul Millsap added 17 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high seven assists for Utah. Chris Bosh had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto, playing its first game since coach Sam Mitchell was fired Wednesday – a day after a 132-93 loss in Denver.
76ers 96, Pistons 91
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Donyell Marshall hit a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left, and Andre Miller led Philadelphia with 18 points
or the 76ers, playing without scoring leader Elton Brand (strained hamstring). Richard Hamilton had 19 for Detroit.
Nets 113, Timberwolves 84
At East Rutherford, N.J., Vince Carter scored 18 points, and Yi Jianlian and Devin Harris added 16 each for New Jersey.
The Nets rebouned from a home loss to Washington on Tuesday night to win for the fourth time in five games. Randy Foye led Minnesota with 20 points.
Grizzlies 93, Clippers 81
At Memphis, Tenn., Rudy Gay scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half, and O.J. Mayo had 20 points to help Memphis snap a seven-game losing streak.
Baron Davis led Los Angeles with 23 points and eight assists.
Hawks 98, Knicks 95
At Atlanta, Marvin Williams scored 18 points, and Atlanta avoided overtime when New York’s Al Harrington missed a last-second 3-pointer.
Harrington led New York with 27 points.
Bucks 101, Bobcats 96
At Milwaukee, Michael Redd scored 25 points, and Richard Jefferson added 22 for Milwaukee, including two free throws with 9 seconds left.
Jason Richardson had 20 points for Charlotte.
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