"As Yao Ming walked off to the locker room, a strained tendon in his left leg ending his night after six minutes, Rockets coach Rick Adelman might have been tempted to head the same way.

While Washington Wizards coach Flip Saunders had walked off the Verizon Center practice court when he could stand no more of a similar lethargic effort this week, Adelman stuck around to take it.

The Rockets, however, made him suffer through everything that has sent their season spiraling downward, from Yao's health issues, to shoddy fast-break defense and finally a fourth-quarter collapse.

The Wizards used 10 unanswered points during the final minutes in finishing off a 98-91 victory Wednesday night to drop the Rockets to 1-6 with their worst loss of the season.

A day after the Rockets were so encouraged with Yao's progress there were talks about changing the limitations on his comeback, he was out again.

The 7-6 center and the Rockets said little about the extent of the injury, but it did not seem serious in that they initially said he could return to the game and Adelman had been told that Yao was going to the locker room to be re-taped. "