"As the T-shirts around State Farm Arena declared, Yao Ming was back. His first game since the 2009 playoffs brought another important step on Tuesday. Magic center Dwight Howard welcomed him back with a reminder of how far he must still go. The matchup was a mismatch, well beyond Yao's dominance of their meetings before his career had been put on hold by his foot surgery and long rehabilitation. But to Yao and the Rockets, that was not the point. Yao was back and for now, that was enough. The Magic rolled past the Rockets, 97-88 on Tuesday. By halftime, Yao had played his 12 minutes, scoring all three of his points from the line and getting three rebounds and an assist. Howard had 17 of his 19 points and nine of his 12 rebounds in the first half. But to Yao, the night was about moving a step closer to where he wants to be. "I can get out on the court and I can run and run without pain or soreness," Yao said. "It's a good first step. We'll see." Yao was so pleased about just being back, he said he had no concerns about measuring up with Howard. "Hey, I'm not down about that," he said with a laugh. "I'm happy I can run on the court without any (discomfort.) That's all I expect right now, from this situation." Yao will play against the Spurs on Thursday and in one of the weekend games before the team heads to China. "I thought he did OK," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "It's going to be a process for him and it's going to be a process for our team." Initially, Yao did move well. He grabbed the game's first rebound. He forced Howard into an awkward miss with his first shot. On his first touch, Yao drew a double-team and set up Aaron Brooks for an open 3-pointer that missed. On the next trip down the floor, he worked a slick give-and-go with Kevin Martin on a backdoor cut for a layup. As his playing time grew, however, Yao struggled. He passed up several open looks and took only one shot, a rushed jumper to beat the shot clock. He got a step on Howard on a drive but when Howard bumped him, he stumbled and was called for a travel. Minutes later, Howard beat Yao off the dribble, drawing a foul as he put in a slick reverse." read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/7233493.html
