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Yao Ming shakes off the rust in season opener

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-28 08:30

Yao Ming felt good about his first NBA game in 17 months.

Yao Ming returned to Houston's regular-season lineup for the first time since May 2009, scoring nine points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a 112-110 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

China's giant center is still shaking off the rust after sitting out all of last season with a broken foot. The 2.26m Yao is taking his time with his comeback and played just 23 minutes against the Lakers, shooting four-of-11 from the field before fouling out late in the game.

"It was pretty good," Yao said. "I just tried to help my team out on defence."

Yao may have seen limited action against the defending champions, but he helped contribute to the Rockets quick start on Tuesday. Houston built a 82-77 lead at the end of the third quarter and at one point in the second quarter led the Lakers by 15 points.

"He did fine," said Houston coach Rick Adelman of Yao. "Over time he will get better."

Yao had his moments in the game, looking like the Yao of old in the third quarter when he executed a perfect hook shot over Bryant for his sixth point of the game to pad the Rockets lead.

Asked how the surgically-repaired foot felt, Yao simply said "Okay" without going into detail.

Adelman said even if Yao hadn't fouled out he wouldn't have kept him on the floor much longer as "24 minutes is his limit".

Yao's last meaningful game was a May 8, 2009 playoff loss to the same Lakers in Game 3 of the second round of the playoffs.

Before game four, Yao was diagnosed with a fracture in his left foot and was ruled out of the rest of the playoffs.

Yao, who has averaged 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds in seven seasons, has missed time over the past four seasons due to leg and foot injuries.

Agence France-Presse