"When Yao Ming left Wednesday's game in the first quarter, he was replaced by Jordan Hill. When the Rockets learned at halftime that Yao would not be back, Hill was replaced by Brad Miller, with Rockets coach Rick Adelman deciding to try something different.

"Jordan did not play well in the first half," Adelman said. "When they told us Yao wasn't going to play, I just felt I was going to start Brad and see if we were going to get a little better offensive flow and we did that.

"The third quarter we were much better. As long as Brad can rebound with them, we were much better on the floor."

Hill was 2-of-5 for four points and two rebounds and also struggled defensively in nine minutes of action. Miller played all 14 of his minutes in the second half, scoring seven points with three rebounds."