Hakeem Olajuwon, the longtime franchise, was adored again in Compaq Center. But Steve Francis, the new "Franchise," had his best game in a month as Olajuwon's successors lived up to his legacy in a stirring second-half comeback to a 112-109 win over the Raptors. The defeat was Toronto's 12th straight.

With a rally from a 17-point second-half deficit, affection that had poured from the 14,221 at Compaq Center for Olajuwon was joyfully returned to the home team as if Olajuwon's reappearance in Houston revived the emotions lost in a lost season.

"Everybody knew it would be significant as far as Dream coming back," Francis said. "It was going to be a lot of emotions on the court whether it was from him, whether it was from management here in Houston, whether it was from the fans, the coaches, everybody was feeling something. I felt the same way.