TORONTO—A broken leg and a 32-game injury absence put an end to MVP talk that had been lavished on the Houston Rockets' Yao Ming.
But with their big center back in the lineup and steadily returning to his dominating early season form, the MVP banter has been replaced by playoff buzz.
The Rockets have yet to enter the rarefied orbit occupied by Western conference rivals the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns. But with a 114-100 victory over the Atlantic leading Toronto Raptors on Friday they have won five-of-seven since Yao's return to close in on the Utah Jazz and the fourth seed in the West.
Before his injury, Yao was laying the foundations for his best season in the NBA, averaging 25.9 points and 9.3 rebounds a game to prompt plenty of MVP speculation.
The 7-foot, 6-inch Chinese giant has not yet matched that type of production in his return but underlined his value to the team with a 23-point and 12-rebound contribution against the Raptors.
"Better," Yao told Reuters. "It's still up and down, I've played seven games but of course not 100 percent like I was before injury so it will still take a few games.
"My fitness is pretty good but I need to find some more consistency."
When Yao crumpled to the floor on December 23 in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers many thought Houston's playoff chances collapsed with him.
But led by some offensive heroics from Tracy McGrady and a gritty defensive effort, the Rockets went 20-12 in Yao's absence to stay in the chase in the ultra competitive Western conference.
Since Yao's return McGrady has not let up, continuing to spark the Rockets attack and pouring in 24 points as the Rockets stopped the Raptors' four-game win streak.
"We want to be playing our best ball going into the post-season," McGrady said. "We've got teams that are ahead of us, Dallas and Phoenix, those guys are already in championship form.
"It's possible (to get a top seed), that's what we're working for, the top three seeds are pretty much set right now but we're working to get that home court advantage."
Yao insists he is still some distance away from being back to full fitness but coach Jeff Van Gundy said he has no interest in percentages, just that his all-star center is ready to play.
"I don't get it, if you play you have no excuses so just play," Van Gundy said. "Do the best you can and that's what he's doing.
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