"Every time he made a shot, Yao Ming pumped his first. Each time one of his teammates made a play, he nodded his head vigorously and slapped them on the back.

The opening game against Team USA was a social event, a world-wide happening. This was the game Yao wanted. This was the one China needed to win to declare its Olympic experience as hosts a success.

With Yao pouring in 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, China made that statement with a 59-55 win over Germany on Saturday.

When the horn finally sounded, a triumphant Yao ran to the middle of the court with both arms raised high above his head, joining his teammates in a circle for a dance. Then he ran off the floor, hooting and yelping and reaching to slap hands with fans who hung out of the stands.

“It’s a big day for China, but we want to do more,” Yao said.

The victory assures that the home team will advance to the quarterfinal round of the tournament and guarantees that China will at least equal its best-ever Olympic finish (8th place).

China has one more preliminary round game against Greece and will face the No. 1 seed in Group A when the knockout round begins.

But that’s a problem for another day. This night was about standing up to the pressure of being in front of a roaring, hopeful home crowd that would have been devastated if its most high-profile team at the Olympics did not advance.

“It was difficult psychologically for us,” China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said. “We were playing at home and we just cannot lose this game.”

Yao played from the opening tip as if he simply would not let this team fall. He got the ball inside against Germany’s 7-footer NBA tandem of Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman and scored in the post."