As expected, Yao Ming was the centrr of attention in Sunday's theatrics that was billed as an Olympic basketball game but felt more like a movie premiere. And his 3-pointer to open the scoring has already become the stuff of legend.
"I was just really happy to make that shot," Yao said after the final whistle, clearly drained by the lightening pace of the U.S. squad. "It was the first score in our Olympic campaign here at home and I'll always remember it. It represents that we can keep our heads up in the face of really tough odds."
Ultimately China went down 101-70, but it was hardly a loss for China and Yao.
Whether chasing a ball out of bounds and landing in a sea of photographers on the baseline under the basket, breaking a five minute scoring drought, or just jumping off the bench to celebrate a teammate's basket with fist pumps in the air even after the game was way out of hand, Yao was the visual, visceral and emotional heart of China's squad.
"Yao played a great game. We were just trying to wear him down a little bit," said Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh, who spent most his time on the floor defending Yao. "He did a great job defensively at the beginning of the game ... eventually we wore down on him," Bosh said.
The China-U.S. game was always going to be one of the most anticipated showdowns in these Olympics and the basketball arena was filled to its 18,000 seat capacity - and beyond. China had early on known that it faced its toughest test first, with further challenges likely to be less of a strain, at least psychologically.
"For Yao Ming, it was really a historical match, so it's really very significant for all of us," said China forward Zhu Fangyu.
Yao himself, seldom prone to outbursts of emotion or long answers, simply expressed the sentiment as: "This was a game I could hardly have imagined."
The 7-foot-6 (2.26-meter) Houston Rockets center was expected to be one of the faces - if not the face - of the Beijing Games, and his season-ending foot injury in February left Chinese fans and officials collectively holding their breath.
His return to court was a cause of celebration, and even though China isn't expected to medal in basketball, the presence of China's biggest star who has proven himself against the world's best was a comfort and inspiration to hundreds of millions of Chinese.
"We're just so happy to see him play," said student Wang Haobin, who was lucky enough to obtain tickets and trekked across Beijing on a rainy night to catch the game. "It would have been different without him, not as special."
Yao tried to hold things together as China grew increasingly discombobulated under the relentless U.S. pressure, but the fast pace of the game was obviously taking its toll. With 4:45 left in the final quarter, coach Jonas Kazlauskas called him back to the bench and Yao walked off, a raised fist to acknowledge the roaring crowd.
"We're a team, we put our hands together and look out for each other," said Yao, who scored a team-high 13 points. "We're going to keep plugging away."
