新赛季姚沙对决火箭主场胜热队英语美文

Heat loses to Rockets but Shaq dominates

Miami Heat "s Shaquille O"Neal (32) and Houston Rockets " Yao Ming (11), of China, look toward the stands before the start of their pre-season game Sunday, October 10, 2004 in Houston. The Rockets won 85-75. [AP]

Miami Heat "s Shaquille O"Neal (32) fouls Houston Rockets " Yao Ming (11), of China, during the second quarter of their pre-season game Sunday, Oct. 10, 2004 in Houston. [AP]

Miami Heat "s Shaquille O"Neal (32) defends as Houston Rockets " Yao Ming (11), of China, looks to shoot during the first quarter of their pre-season game Sunday, Oct. 10, 2004 in Houston. [AP]

New uniform, same Shaq. It took Shaquille O"Neal a mere 22 minutes to show how several NBA norms remain the same despite his recent change of address. Specifically, he can still dominate Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo, and his touch around the basket is as good as his foul shooting is poor.

O"Neal had 17 points and seven rebounds Sunday night in his debut for his new team, looking surprisingly nimble and quick for such an early point in the preseason as the Miami Heat opened the NBA"s exhibition slate with an 85-75 loss to the Houston Rockets.

Following a summer in which he endeavored to get in shape, O"Neal — listed at 325 pounds — didn"t have any dunks and didn"t even draw a sellout crowd. But what he did do, and the manner in which he did it, was certainly enough to validate the hopes of Miami fans whose excitement level has gone off the charts thanks to the team"s huge offseason addition.

"My expectations are very high for this team," O"Neal said. "I"m here with good guys, a fun group to be around, and they seem to be very hungry. They had a good run, they were only missing one piece. Hopefully I"m that piece."

O"Neal gave a hearty handskake to Yao prior to the opening tipoff, then recovered from a shaky start — getting scored on by Yao and losing the ball the first time he touched it on offense — to make three consecutive shots.

Wearing a new number, 32 instead of 34, and clad in black and red rather than the familiar purple and gold he donned for the Los Angeles Lakers, one of O"Neal"s best moves came in the second quarter when he deftly ducked under Yao"s outstretched arm to gently bounce a shot off the backboard. The ball rolled around the rim and off, but O"Neal"s timing was perfect as he was right there to tap it back in.

With Mutombo replacing Yao as the starting center for the second half, O"Neal went right at one of the best shot blockers in league history. On one particularly nifty possession, he got the ball deep in the low post and suddenly flicked a half-hook over Mutombo before the 7-foot-2 center had a chance to realize the shot was coming. It dropped in to give the Heat a 53-51 lead, and O"Neal left the game for good moments later after picking up his fifth foul.

"Foul me out!" he yelled at official Scott Wall, whose whistle stayed silent on the next Houston possession despite O"Neal taking an oversized swipe at Tyronn Lue"s drive.

O"Neal, who watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench, finished 8-for-14 from the field and 1-for-3 from the line, badly missing a pair of foul shots in the third quarter as the ball came off his hand with a sidespin.

Yao had 10 points and five rebounds for Houston, and Tracy McGrady scored 10 points in 18 minutes in his Rockets debut.

After the game, the Rockets left for a 15-hour flight to China, where they will play the Sacramento Kings in a pair of exhibition games.