LeBron, Cavaliers treat Yao like high-school player

CLEVELAND - LEBRON James and the Cleveland Cavaliers made Yao Ming feel like he was back in high school on Monday.

The Chinese player struggled in his first National Basketball Association game, after missing more than two months with a leg injury.

The Cavaliers held off the Houston Rockets 91-85, led by James' 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Yao finished the game with a bag of ice on his right knee.

He had 16 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and five turnovers.

The centre had trained just once since recovering from a broken bone under his knee.

It showed.

'In the second quarter, third quarter, I was almost like a high-school player,' he said. 'Sometimes, Cleveland would just steal the ball from my hand.'

He air-balled a left hook on the Rockets' first possession, but soon got in the Cavaliers' way on the other end by blocking a shot.

Wearing a black brace on his right knee, he looked slow and out of sync during attacks. He let a crisp pass tip off his hands and missed open shots.

'Uneven, which is to be expected,' said the Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy. 'But he has got to cut down on his turnovers.

'We can't play well if he goes right back to what he was doing before he got hurt, which is being a high turnover guy. It's impossible to have offensive rhythm.'

James, whose popularity in China helped him top Yao in the All-Star voting this year, scored more than 30 points for the fourth straight game. The Cavaliers have won three of the four.

He got help from Larry Hughes, who had been struggling until recently.

Hughes had 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

He said this is the most comfortable he has felt since joining the Cavaliers as a free agent last season.

With rookie Daniel Gibson out with a sprained toe, he played some point guard, which he said he would like to do more often.

'I'm able to create,' he said. 'I'm able to get everybody involved, feel the flow of the game, know what plays we can run.'

James would not mind seeing that as well.

'If he keeps playing the way he is playing now, we might have to keep him in there,' James said.

Yao, who played 27 minutes, helped spark the Rockets in the fourth quarter, after they trailed by 14.

He scored seven straight points and provided a presence that forced Cleveland to take outside shots.

'I can't wait for my next game,' he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS