Houston Rockets News

SHANGHAI, China (AP) _ China's official sports association has issued an unprecedented public criticism of Yao Ming for reporting late to national team training. The Houston Rockets star was faulted for taking too much time off to recover from his last NBA season, as well spending too much time planning his wedding and making appearances for the Special Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. ``No matter how lofty public welfare activities are, they can't be allowed to take ...

Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming left a pre-season game Thursday night against the Orlando Magic with a sprained right ankle. The team said the injury was minor and Yao left the game only as a precaution. ``It's not a big problem,'' Yao said. ``If we had practise tomorrow I could do it.'' He had 13 points and four rebounds when he was injured. He left in the second quarter, after ...

Yao Ming had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets over the Milwaukee Bucks 111-97 in pre-season play Wednesday night. Michael Redd scored 21 points for the Bucks, who lost despite hitting 11 of 19 three-pointers (58 percent). The Rockets grabbed a double-figure lead early in the third quarter and led by as many as 16 in the second half. Rookie Vassilis Spanoulis scored all of his 10 points in the fourth quarter to ...

Vassilis Spanoulis hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1:25 left and the Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 72-69 in an exhibition game Tuesday night. The teams were tied at 67 when Spanoulis made a 20-footer to give the Rockets the lead for good. Steve Novak added a three-pointer with 37.7 seconds left. Ndudi Ebi made two free throws with 32.3 seconds remaining to get Dallas within three. The Mavericks had a chance to tie it with 10.8 seconds ...

Luther Head scored 20 points to lead five Houston players in double figures and the Rockets beat the Atlanta Hawks 107-93 in a pre-season game Friday night. Rafer Alston and Kirk Snyder each had 15 points for the Rockets, while John Lucas scored 14 and Tracy McGrady 13. Rockets centre Yao Ming did not make the trip. He is sidelined after having a toe nail removed recently. The Rockets (1-1) were the home team in the game ...

Rudy Gay scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied from 12-point second-half deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 75-69 Tuesday night in the pre-season opener for both teams. Houston scored 20 points on 7-of-37 shooting in the second half as reserves played almost the entire game. Centre Yao Ming didn't suit up for the Rockets after having his left big toenail removed ...

Bonzi Wells could've taken a richer, long-term contract to play in another city. The free agent chose the Houston Rockets, sacrificing dollars for what he believes is a chance to play on a championship-calibre team. ``You look at their talent level, they should've been better last year,'' Wells said Monday after passing a physical. ``Hopefully, I can be a part of them making that next step _ not only making ...

The Houston Rockets signed free agent Casey Jacobsen on Tuesday, adding another perimeter shooter to the roster. The six-foot-six Jacobsen played last season for Tau Ceramica in the Euroleague. He was originally drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the first round in 2002. The former Stanford star averaged 16.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in five games with the Denver Nuggets' summer league squad. Jacobsen is Stanford's third all-time ...

Patrick Ewing resigned as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. Ewing, who worked for the Rockets the past three seasons, said he quit to spend more time with his three children. ``It was a difficult decision to resign because I enjoy coaching,'' Ewing said in a release. ``I love working with Jeff (Van Gundy) and the rest of the staff and our players are really good guys. But my ...