They did what they do, with Yao exhibiting his rare skills, Howard his uncommon strength, with each having improved enough in the other's greatest quality to have become the NBA's pre-eminent centers.

They are at the same time unprecedented and yet throwbacks to a time the centers ruled the NBA, vastly different, yet with similarities few others can share.

They had praised one another, more like members of an exclusive club than the opponents they will be tonight when Yao and the Rockets will have their first of two meetings with Howard and the Magic.

"I think there is not many big men like us left in this league," Yao , 7-6 said. "Dwight Howard. Me. Shaquille O'Neal. Chris Kaman this year played very well, too. I feel like we're dinosaurs, almost done."

Top of the heap

Howard, 6-11, has overtaken Yao as the NBA's top scoring center, averaging 23.6 points this season to go with his 15.3 rebounds per game. Making 61.8 percent of his shots, Howard is the only NBA player to rank in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field-goal percentage.

But last season, in their one meeting, Yao rolled up 37 points in a 103-92 Rockets win.

Howard said he felt like his 6-0 teammate Jameer Nelson trying to guard him. Yao said he had to do it against Howard while he could.

"When he gets more experience and more time in this league," Yao said, "one day he will be unstoppable."

That day has come quickly, with Howard becoming the dominant force in the Magic's 17-9 start.

"He's 7-foot, one of the most athletic guys I've ever seen; very strong," the Rockets' Tracy McGrady said. "He's a beast. He really is. He wants to be great. He has a great attitude about it.

"Any time you get your mind to do something and you play with a great deal of confidence, anything is possible. Right now, he's playing out of his mind."

Howard has become so physical a force, his 113 dunks this season are twice Shawn Marion's next-best 53.

"Dwight has elevators in his shoes," said the Rockets' Shane Battier, who was a teammate of Howard's on the USA Basketball senior national team. "The league has never seen anyone that combines his size and strength with his athletic ability. Never. You say Wilt Chamberlain. I never saw Wilt Chamberlain in person. Dwight Howard's doing it against Yao Ming and doing it against Shaq. Dwight Howard is a physical specimen. He doesn't just rely on his physical abilities. He has developed his touch. He is ever-improving.

"He respects the game. It's nice to see young guys get it."

But Howard has not dominated Yao as he has the rest of the league. He had 16 points in their one meeting last season. In his first three seasons, he has averaged 9.2 points when going against Yao .

Running into wall

"He has played great this year, shooting much better," Yao said. "Even his free throws have improved so much. I watched the film. Unbelievable player. All you can do is treat him like Shaq, try to push him out, and in the pick-and-roll, we need to keep touch with him so he doesn't get any second shots. I know it's easy to say, but we have to do it."

Howard had a similar plan for Yao , describing him with the same sort of awe.

"Just how big he is; it's just amazing," Howard said. "I was thinking, 'Why are his legs so big?' Then I went to China and I was like, 'He must have rode bikes all day.' I always say, 'What if I was 7-5 and I was still the same way I am now?' Him being 7-5 is like a cheat code in a video game. It's a cheat code to get somebody 7-5, shooting the ball like John Stockton or somebody.

"The biggest thing with Yao is not letting him get in a comfort zone. He can shoot over anybody in the NBA, so it's not like you're going to block any of his jump shots. So you have to not let him get comfortable down in the paint. Deep post catches, shots where he can get into a rhythm, we have to take those away. Try to tire him out. The biggest thing I can use is running him, fronting him, making it tough to catch. Make it tough."

Last of their kind?

If Yao 's dinosaur theory is right, they could be the last of their kind.

They also could inspire other big men to play the traditional center role they embrace with what has become unusual zeal. But they are so uncommon, it might be impossible for anyone to follow them.

"They are different in that there is going to be very, very few guys with Dwight's athleticism, and there is going to be very, very few guys with Yao's size," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "It's tough for anybody to emulate a lot of things those guys do because they are very, very unique players."

But perhaps that is the way it is and always has been with the truly special players, even before the truly dominant centers became so rare.

"Nobody will be the next whoever," Yao said. "Like Hakeem Olajuwon will be the only one here in Houston ."

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