There was more than one winner in the November 9 NBA game between the Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks. While the Rockets overwhelmed the Bucks 104-88, two Chinese players, Yao Ming (left) and Yi Jianlian, dominated the so-called "China derby."

In their first ever matchup, Yao scored 28 points, in addition to 10 rebounds and three assists, for the Rockets; Yi, the Buck's rookie, finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Prior to this game, the Chinese national teammates had never donned different jerseys and confronted each other in any regular basketball competition.

More importantly, the duo helped the game, reportedly "the biggest individual sports story of all time," draw a global audience of up to 250 million, mostly in China where the event was broadcast live on 19 TV networks and two webcasters.

The 27-year-old Yao, standing at 7-foot-6 (2.26 meters), was selected by the Rockets with the first pick in the 2002 NBA draft. After five years of playing in the NBA, he is now one of the sport's most formidable centers.

Yi, 20 years old and 7 feet (2.12 meters) tall, first gained worldwide recognition when he was proclaimed as "the next Yao Ming" in a Time magazine article in 2003. The sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, he has a long-legged, easy stride that makes him one of the fastest big men in the league. He also shoots well from the perimeter and the free-throw line, and dribbles well. Before entering the NBA, Yi won three straight Chinese Basketball Association League titles with the Guangdong Tigers in the 2003-06 seasons.

Yao and Yi have proved very successful, not only on the court but also in pushing the NBA's penetration into their homeland. According to a recent survey held by the NBA, 83 percent of Chinese males aged between 15 and 24 years admit that they are NBA fans. In the meantime, nearly one third of the visits to the NBA's official website are from China, and there are more than 50,000 stores selling NBA merchandise across the country.

In October, NBA Commissioner David Stern estimated that the league's profits in China, which stood at $50 million, would increase by more than fivefold in the next two to three years.