Ming, Rockets Dominate Undersized Heat 107-98

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap

The Miami Heat have had this inherent problem that has dogged them for quite some time – they haven’t had a true center (with apologies to Alonzo Mourning) to bang around with the Eastern Conference big boys since Shaquille O’Neal. In Monday night’s game against the Houston Rockets, that deficiency was exploited as Yao Ming pretty much had his way with the Heat frontcourt – whose center by default was Udonis Haslem, all 6′8″ of him. Ming – with a big size advantage – scored 28 points, leading Houston to the 107-98 victory over Miami at American Airlines Center.

Miami had a deficit early on as they were down 30-21 after one quarter, yet they stayed relatively close as they trailed by only 8 at halftime; when the Heat’s Dwyane Wade hit a pair of baskets right after intermission, Miami was only down 56-52. They would narrow the gap to two on a layup by Michael Beasley; however, Houston would go on an 11-0 run – 9 of those points by Ming – and the Heat would never pose a serious threat for the remainder of the game.

Houston was led by Ming with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists while Ron Artest added 20 (including three 3-pointers) with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals; Luis Scola nabbed a double-double, scoring 11 with 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Miami was led by Wade and Mario Chalmers with 23 points each – with Wade grabbing 3 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists and 2 steals while Chalmers drained 5 threes, grabbed 4 rebounds, dished out 6 assists along with 4 steals. Houston (10-5) plays again on Wednesday when they host the Indiana Pacers while Miami (7-7) travels to the Pacific Northwest to face the Portland Trail Blazers – also on Wednesday night.

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