SHANGHAI, China - Tracy McGrady is more than willing to trade individual statistics for victories with Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets.
"I'm really not concerned about that," McGrady said Wednesday. "My main goal is to make Yao better, to make my team better. Obviously, my scoring will go down because we're going to try to have Yao go on offense a lot.
"I have higher goals now I want to achieve."
McGrady, the NBA scoring champion the last two seasons with Orlando, joined the Rockets in a seven-player offseason deal.
"We have a common goal of winning games and achieving the best results for the season," Yao, a Shanghai native, said in Chinese.
The Rockets face the Sacramento Kings today in an preseason game in Shanghai - the first NBA game in China. The teams meet again Sunday in Beijing before returning home.
Yao is hugely popular in Shanghai and his return has dominated headlines.
BRYANT REPLY: Kobe Bryant is shrugging off criticism of him by former Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "He's just trying to sell books. I'll just leave it at that," Bryant said at the Lakers' training camp. "I wish him the best at whatever he's doing now. I have responsibilities here, and that's what I have to take care of. That's it." In The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul, Jackson says he no longer wanted to coach Bryant.
HAWKS 96, MAGIC 88: Al Harrington had 23 points and eight rebounds to spark host Atlanta. The Magic (0-2) featured marquee rookies Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson. Howard fouled out after committing six turnovers while scoring eight in 25 minutes. Nelson scored two while committing five fouls in 25 minutes.
PISTONS 105, CELTICS 103: Rookie Carlos Delfino's 3-pointer with six seconds left saved host Detroit in its first game. The defending NBA champion led by as many as 22 in the first half. Gary Payton, who struggled for the Lakers against Detroit in the title series, had six points and five assists in 24 minutes for Boston.
BUCKS 89, WOLVES 84: Desmond Mason scored 10 of his 26 in the fourth quarter to help Milwaukee win the preseason opener for both at Grand Forks, N.D.
HORNETS 94, MAVERICKS 87: Rookie J.R. Smith scored 19, including four 3-pointers, to lead host New Orleans in the preseason opener for both teams.
3-POINT PLAN: The NBA is considering a plan to abolish the 3-point shot until the end of games to increase shooting percentages and make the sport more aesthetically pleasing. The league may ban 3-pointers until there are five minutes left in the game in its development league scheduled to begin Nov. 19, said Stu Jackson, NBA senior vice president of basketball operations. Jackson said it was too early to tell if the NBA would change the rule.
