During Yao Ming's exam at halftime of the Rockets' loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, Rockets team physician Tom Clanton told Yao he would be medically cleared to begin practicing Thursday.

Yao asked if he could play in the second half.

Doctors did not allow that and did not forecast when he would be able to play in games. But Yao practiced with the team Thursday for the first time since he fractured his right tibia Dec. 23.

"It was hard, a first day, but it was better than I thought," Yao said. "Last time, I had a toenail removed. I missed like one week. I came back and felt like everything went away ? no conditioning, no skill or anything. Today felt much better than that day. I'm another step closer to playing."

Asked if he could play as soon as tonight against the Denver Nuggets, Yao said, "Don't set a trap for me. (The timetable) is on the doctor and coach."