Rockets center Yao Ming passed the first, very unscheduled test of his nail-less big toe Monday. The real test comes tonight in Dallas.

Yao went through all of practice Monday and found his conditioning to be not nearly as far off as he thought it would be after returning to the court one day earlier. He also felt no pain when coach Jeff Van Gundy backed into him, stepping directly on the toe that has caused Van Gundy and the Rockets so much concern.

"Jeff stepped on my toe in the beginning of practice, and I felt all right," Yao said. "He was just backing up. I did not see him. He's pretty light."