(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-08 11:53

Questions to ponder while wondering how much milk could be poured into one of Yao Ming's size 18 high-tops (at least a quart, don't you think?):

Who would you rather have, Yao or Dwight Howard?

Gotta be Yao. The size difference is just too great. Yao is 7-6, 310 or so. Howard 6-11, 270ish. That's 7 inches and 40 pounds. That's like the difference between a 6-2, 170-pound guard and a 6-9, 210-pound forward except Yao and Howard play the same position. Yao is no Shawn Bradley, either. He is a skilled offensive player, 85 percent free-throw shooter and a huge presence on defense.

In their matchup Friday night in Orlando, a two-point game won by the Rockets, size clearly won out. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said afterwards that Howard did a nice job of attacking Yao early, but didn't get any calls. Yao was able to move his feet well enough to make Howard's angles difficult on his 5-foot baby hooks, and that set the tone for a subpar outing. Howard went 2-for-5 with two rebounds in the first quarter and never really got off. On the other end, Howard could not defend Yao's turnaround, and Yao went for 12 pounds and eight boards in the first 12 minutes.

Both players got in foul trouble in the second quarter -- Howard picked up one helping on Bonzi Wells and another during a silly skirmish with Chucky Atkins that resulted in a double foul and Howard sitting out the final three minutes of the half.

Both also spent the better part of the third quarter in foul trouble, and Howard eventually fouled out in the final minute of the game. His final line: 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, eight rebounds, three steals and one block. Yao went for 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting, 10 rebounds and four turnovers, no blocks.

The age difference would seem to favor Howard. He just turned 22, and is five years younger than Yao. Remember Yao at 22? He was a rookie being dogged by enormous expectations and a fair amount of criticism. Well, he's averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds over the past three seasons. Most teams will take that kind of softness. Howard always has been a better rebounder than Yao but this is Howard's first season averaging 20 points. It won't be his last. But in five years, Howard still will be 6-11 and Yao still will be 7-6.

What did we learn from Round 2 of Pistons-Celtics?

That Glen "Big Baby" Davis has learned to absorb contact and still score underneath the basket, that Jason Maxiell is a force off the bench, that Kevin Garnett is the leading candidate for MVP and the Celtics are going to be No. 1 in the power polls for quite a while.

Well, let's reconsider that last one. If the Pistons win both ends of a back-to-back against the Mavericks and Spurs this week and the Celtics somehow lose to the Bobcats at home on Wednesday, the Pistons may stay at the top. But the odds of all that happening are about the same as Yao fitting into a pair of size 10s.

By the way, the Celtics still have 12 wins to go to match the Bulls' 41-3 start, but the schedule should not be a huge hindrance. Between now and February, the Celtics play only five games on the road -- and they're all against East teams that aren't named Pistons. The home schedule, however, includes dates against the Mavs and Blazers (Five weeks ago, who would have thought the Blazers would be a challenge on anyone's schedule, much less a team such as the Celtics?).

Who's No. 3 in the East?

The Magic has the third-best record but they're not even .500 at home and no way they're staying 10 games over .500 on the road. The Cavaliers are a threat as long as LeBron James is on the court, but I'm not buying his claim that his team is better this season than last simply because he has improved. The Raptors and Hawks still are too young. That leaves the Nets, and they're starting to roll. Richard Jefferson is having a career season, Vince Carter has avoided serious injury and Jason Kidd has put his issues aside and is playing like a Hall of Famer. You should have seen him against the Magic last week. He took over defending 6-10 Hedo Turkoglu in the final minutes and simply overmatched him, not even allowing Turkoglu to get off a last-second shot with the Magic trailing by two points. Kidd already has nine triple doubles this season, two fewer than the rest of the league combined.

Have you checked out Chris Bosh's 'vote for me' video?

It's funny enough to earn Bosh some votes. It's accurate enough to make you think Bosh watched a lot of late-night TV growing up in Texas. It's refreshing to see one of the game's rising stars so willing to admit how important being an All-Star starter would be. Unfortunately, it's not going to do Bosh much good since he plays the same position as the two leading vote-getters, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James. Bosh still will be in New Orleans, though, because of his play on the court and not his performance off it.