Yao Ming edged Kobe Bryant as the top votegetter in fanballoting1for the 55th NBA All-Star game Thursday, and Shaquille O'Neal became the fifth player in league history to earn 13consecutive2selections for the midseason showcase. Yao and Tracy McGrady give the host Houston Rockets two starters in the Feb.19 game. They were joined on the Western Conference squad by Bryant, San Antonio's Tim Duncan and reigning MVP Steve Nash of Phoenix -- who will be a first-time All-Star starter. Yao edged Bryant by 71,107 votes for the top overall spot in the balloting, despite missing 21 games following surgery to clean out aninfection3in his left big toe. It's the fourth All-Star trip for the 7-foot-6 center from China and the eighth for Bryant, who leads the NBA in scoring and had an 81-point effort -- the second-biggest night in NBA history -- last month in the Los Angeles Lakers' win over Toronto. Yao finished with 2,342,738 votes; Bryant had 2,271,631 in the closest finish among the top two players in All-Star balloting since Vince Carter, then of Toronto, edged Miami's Alonzo Mourning by 33,385 votes in 2000. Notes: 1    ballot  vi.  2    consecutive  adj.  3    infection  n. , Yao Ming's got   _   Kobe Bryant in fan balloting for the 55th NBA All-Star game Thursday.
the same votes as more votes than less votes than no more than