Devil Dish

 by Love Bhakta
 published on Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Surprise, surprise.

Yao Ming is hurt. But this time, it's a little bit more serious.

The 7-foot-6 center, who is only one of a handful of players in the NBA averaging a double-double, learned Tuesday that he would be sidelined for the remainder of the season, due to a stress fracture in his left foot.

Well, there goes any chance of the Houston Rockets making the playoffs. Arguably the NBA's hottest team after pulling off 13 consecutive victories, the Rockets now face the danger of collapsing from contender to yet another pretender.

If Houston was in the East, this would all be a different story. But coming from the West, the Rockets have no chance of making it to the show.

Just when it seemed like the Rockets were on top of the world, they now face the reality of once again playing second fiddle to big brothers San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks of the Lone Star State.

For all you fantasy nuts out there, go and pick up Luis Scola. The rookie will be getting some serious playing time with his added role and should not disappoint.