Rockets regain Yao but lose to Cavaliers

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers made Yao Ming feel like he was back in high school.

Yao struggled in his first game after missing more than two months because of a broken leg and the host Cavaliers held off the Houston Rockets, 91-85, Monday night, led by James’ 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Houston got within 84-82 on a Tracy McGrady jump shot with 1:34 left but could get no closer.

Yao sat at his locker with a bag of ice on his right knee after finishing with 16 points, 11 rebounds, two blocked shots and five turnovers in 27 minutes. He made five of 15 shots.

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

Said Rockets Coach Jeff Van Gundy of Yao’s performance: “Uneven, which is to be expected. But he’s 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.”

McGrady led Houston with 25 points but made only 10 of 32 shots.

Golden State 111, Detroit 93 -- Jason Richardson had a season-high 29 points in front of his home fans and the Warriors never wavered after closing the first half with a 15-2 run to end a six-game losing streak and an 11-game slide at Auburn Hills, Mich.

The win also ended Golden State’s seven-game road losing streak, and gave the Warriors an unlikely sweep of the season series after beating Detroit, 111-79, at home on Nov. 11.

Lindsey Hunter scored 20 points for Detroit.

Miami 88, Atlanta 81 -- The Heat took control with a 13-2 fourth-quarter run at Miami to get above .500 (30-29) for the first time since Nov. 10.

Eddie Jones had 14 of his season-high 21 points in the final quarter and Shaquille O’Neal added 14 points and nine rebounds on the eve of his 35th birthday. Josh Smith and Anthony Johnson each had 16 points for Atlanta.

Miami’s Jason Kapono left late in the third quarter because of a sprained left ankle.

Utah 120, Charlotte 95 -- Mehmet Okur scored a career-high tying 32 points on 13-for-15 shooting to help the Jazz defeat the Bobcats for the first time in three tries at Salt Lake City. Okur made all six of his shots in the third quarter as the Jazz extended its lead to 19 points

Gerald Wallace scored 33 points for Charlotte.

Orlando 99, Milwaukee 81 -- The Magic took advantage as the Bucks missed eight of their first 10 shots while committing six turnovers at Orlando, Fla. Orlando, which got 25 points from Hedo Turkoglu, led by as many as 20 points en route to ending a three-game losing streak.

Milwaukee’s Michael Redd, coming off a 52-point game Sunday, scored 15 on three-for-16 shooting.