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Just days ago, the Houston Rockets discussed the idea of increasing Yao Ming’s(notes) minutes. That plan appears to have hit a snag.

Yao’s status is uncertain for Friday night, when the Rockets visit an Indiana Pacers team coming off a historic shooting performance.

The 7-foot-6 Yao played the opening 6:14 of Wednesday’s 98-91 loss to Washington before straining a tendon in his left leg. He grabbed one rebound and was held without a point for the first time since Nov. 5, 2002—his fourth NBA game.

Yao was playing in his fifth game after sitting out the entire 2009-10 season while recovering from surgery to repair his broken left foot. Houston (1-6) has been putting strict limits on Yao’s minutes in an attempt to keep the injury-plagued star healthy for a full season, but there had been talk of easing up on those restrictions.

Unable to lean on Yao - the team’s leading scorer in each of his last three seasons - Kevin Martin(notes) and Luis Scola(notes) are shouldering more of the offense for the Rockets, losers of four straight to Indiana (3-3).

The Rockets were so encouraged by Yao Ming's progress they had begun talking about changing the limitations on his playing time. Those conversations can be safely considered on hold.

Yao limped off the floor Wednesday with strained tendons in his left ankle and is expected to miss a week. The Rockets had considered it possible that he would return to the game. Rick Adelman had been told Yao was going to be re-taped. Yao said the injury is not in the same area as his stress fractures and surgery.

Yao, however, seemed worried. And even if the injury turns out to be minor, it reminded everyone of the Rockets' problems with Yao's on-again, off-again status.

Though Yao was not a part of the medical team's discussions about his playing time, he did think playing now more than a half-game and just half the games when in a back-to-back made it difficult for the Rockets to build continuity needed to defend and finish better.

"The team needs to play consistently," Yao said. "That means you need a consistent lineup. A guy who is a starting center being on and off, on and off, I think that's not good for a team. That's why I think playing back-to-back for me and for teammates is very important."

What went unnoticed in the Pacers' 31-point rout of the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday was the return of Brandon Rush to the lineup.

Rush, who was suspended for the first five games for failing his drug test three times, came off the bench to score 16 points and grab seven rebounds in 30 minutes.

"Felt pretty good out there," Rush said. "I got up and down the floor without getting too winded. I didn't know what to expect of myself when returning to the game."

Rush is hoping to carry over his success from the end of last season to this season. He averaged more than 11 points a game in the final 21 games of 2009-10.

"If you look at Brandon's last four months of last year and how he hard he worked this summer, he really worked on his attack game," coach Jim O'Brien said. "That's the difference. Having a guy like that is key."

O'Brien thought about starting Rush over Mike Dunleavy, who had been struggling, in the starting lineup but decided against it because he likes how the starting unit has played together. Dunleavy made the decision look good by scoring 31 points in just 24 minutes against Denver.

Rick Adelman became the 11th head coach in Rockets history on May 23, 2007, returning to the bench after a season away from the NBA. In his two seasons with the Rockets, Adelman’s winning percentage of .659 (108-56) stands as the highest in franchise history. Overall, Adelman owns a career record of 860-537 (.616) in 18 NBA seasons as a head coach with the Portland Trail Blazers (1988-94), Golden State Warriors (1995-97), Sacramento Kings (1998-2006) and Houston Rockets (2007-09).

Jim O’Brien has 30 years of coaching experience at the collegiate and professional level. Most recently, he served as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2004-2005 season. The Philadelphia native guided the 76ers to the playoffs with a 43-39 record, a 10 win improvement from the previous season.

Aaron Brooks - (sprained his left ankle) is expected to miss four to six weeks with the first serious injury of his career, likely keeping him out at least until Dec. 7.

NBA.com has a reporter in every arena, scouring the locker rooms and hitting press row for all the latest news, notes and anecdotes leading up to tipoff. Ten Before Tip is your source for lineup scratches, injury updates and all last-minute info that could affect the outcome of the game. Every night, before every game, NBA.com’s writers will be filing short TBT blog posts directly from the arena, covering the latest storylines to keep you fully informed.

Indy2thaWindy wrote:Yao Ming is out. I think Chuck Hayes will start. Hibbert triple-double waiting to happen I hope Rush starts tho. K-Mart always kills us by getting to the line and if Dunleavy is guarding him he could get Roy into foul trouble.

Indy2thaWindy wrote:Yao Ming is out. I think Chuck Hayes will start. Hibbert triple-double waiting to happen I hope Rush starts tho. K-Mart always kills us by getting to the line and if Dunleavy is guarding him he could get Roy into foul trouble.

Indy2thaWindy wrote:I'm not, but I do expect Hibbert to score at least 10 points. There is no way Hayes will be able to stop Hibbert from dropping ten assists tho, and Hibbert should be able to grab 10 boards with Houston's short front court, even tho they can outrebound almost anybody.

I think Hibbert gets 15pts/11rebs/7assts/4blks. DC is gonna go crazy on Ish Smith. Smith is fast but no way he can stop Darren.

Miller4ever wrote:

Indy2thaWindy wrote:Yao Ming is out. I think Chuck Hayes will start. Hibbert triple-double waiting to happen I hope Rush starts tho. K-Mart always kills us by getting to the line and if Dunleavy is guarding him he could get Roy into foul trouble.

Don't underestimate Hayes' defense.

Cru Thik wrote:Nice game threads Pacer fans. We tried to pickup your idea for our 76ers threads but we had a bunch of posters bitch and complained until they outlawed pics of females in game threds. How pathetic is that a bunch of guys on a internet forum bitching about hot chicks.