HOUSTON // Houston's Yao Ming won a showdown of top-flight centres with Orlando's Dwight Howard to guide the Rockets to a 93-83 home victory. Yao schooled his younger rival with 20 points and 16 rebounds as Houston stopped Orlando (57-20) from overtaking the second-placed Boston (58-19) in the Eastern Conference. "Each year I feel it's harder and harder to guard him [Howard]," Yao said. "He keeps getting stronger. He has learned a lot of offensive skills."
Howard, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, returned the compliment. "He shot the ball well," Howard said. "I got frustrated with my game." The 7ft 6ins Yao is also hard to defend because of his height, said Howard, who stands 6ft 11ins. The loss left the Magic a game behind Boston. Houston (50-28), the No 4 team in the Western Conference, took the lead against the Magic midway through the first quarter and enjoyed a 47-38 half-time advantage.
Orlando pulled within a point in the third quarter at 55-54 on Rafer Alston's three-pointer, but two consecutive field goals by Yao and a three-pointer by Shane Battier put Houston back in control. "I'm really pleased with the win," the Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "I think our guys played hard, defended them well." Meanwhile, the New Orleans Hornets wrapped up a play-off berth the hard way on Tuesday, defeating the Miami Heat 93-87 in overtime.
David West's jumper sealed the win with eight seconds remaining in the extra session. * Reuters