Then came the 95-90 win over Seattle on Monday.

Yao said his back is fine. Yao said he did not know what happened to leave him so obviously bruised on Sunday.

"I don't remember a foul," Yao said. "It was just there. I have long arms. Maybe they think the color is the same, the ball and my arm."

The soreness came when he dove for a loose ball. He was wincing on occasion in the second half of Sunday's game, but said that by Monday's game that he was not in any pain.

"On the loose ball, I (landed) on my hip," Yao said. "It was a little swollen (Sunday.) Not today. But (Sunday) when I was running, I felt a lot of pain and sore right on (the hip.) Today is much better."

Yao said he was not frustrated by a recent run of bad luck since coming back from his fractured leg.

"What can you say? It just happens," Yao said. "You can't stay away from all that. This is a contact league. It can happen any second."

Positive step

When the Rockets left Houston, coach Jeff Van Gundy said he wanted to see a renewed sense of purpose and urgency. The second-half comeback on Sunday in Sacramento was a step in that direction, though he said it takes more than half a game for anything to be considered a turnaround.

"The first half Sunday wasn't what we hoped to be," Van Gundy said. "The second half was a little better.

"In the second half (Sunday) we were more active, more urgent; not so much in the first half. It's just who do you strive to be. We've just got to seize the opportunity. I think we have a unique opportunity. But it doesn't really matter what I think or what I see or what my vision is. It's what the group's vision is for what they can be. We'll see."

Asked how he would describe his team's attitude, he said, "It's the NBA. It changes every day.

"I like our guys. Our guys are good. We have good guys. That's the least of our problems."