First, Tracy McGrady. Now, Yao. The Houston Rockets are ready for the summer.
Yao Ming, the Rockets´ All-Star center and leading scorer among the active players, broke his left foot Monday in the first quarter of an 85-83 loss to the Utah Jazz. With the playoffs well out of reach and just four games remaining, Yao´s fourth season in the NBA appears to be over.
NEW YORK (AP) -- NBA postseason rosters will expand to 13 this season, with teams deactivating one player before each game.
This will be the first time teams will be allowed to make changes during the playoffs. In the past, they had to stick with the same 12-man roster throughout the postseason.
The new rule was approved by the board of governors and announced Tuesday.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the change was made to give teams the same kind of roster room they had during the regular season. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, rosters were expanded to 15, with teams placing 12 players on the active list before each game.
"We should have some type of flexibility since teams have been able to do that the entire season," Frank said. "We just kind of felt like that was the best way to go."
Teams that qualify for the postseason will submit their 13-man roster by 3 p.m. EDT on April 20.
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April 11, 2006