BEIJING, August 10, 2008 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush joined thousands of boisterous Chinese fans for a late night match up between Yao Ming-led China and the NBA-laden Team USA in men's basketball at the Beijing Olympics Sunday.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese were expected to tune into the game that will be broadcast live in the United States early Sunday morning, in what some are calling the most-watched basketball game-ever.

At tip off a deafening atmosphere at the 18,000 seat Wukesong stadium was red-hot with frenzied Chinese fans rooting for an Olympic-sized performance from the towering Yao and his teammates.

'We expect Yao Ming to have a great game, 1.3 billion Chinese are waiting on him to perform better than ever,' Huang Rui, 35, who came to the game from southeastern China's Fujian province, told AFP.

'We hope this team will play better than ever and continue to advance and improve... win or lose is not so important they just need to play a good game.'

Bush who arrived for Friday's Games opening ceremony was escorted by his wife Laura and his former president father to their seats, but his counterpart Hu Jintao did not accompany him despite media reports that the Chinese president would attend.

'This is China's first basketball game at the Olympics so it's a huge game for the fans,' Su Qun, editor of top sports newspaper, Basketball Pioneers, told AFP.

'The fans have been waiting for this game a long time, they love NBA basketball. They know all 12 players on the US team so they will be watching with great interest.'

With Yao's departure to the NBA five years ago, basketball has become a favorite amongst the nation's sports fan, a situation that has been helped by huge exposure to the NBA and a poor record by the national soccer team.

'We are not even near the level of the US team. It will be a great challenge for us to play them, but it will also be an honor,' Yao said ahead of the match.

'As soon as I'm on the court, I will fight with my life.'

While the 2.26 metre (seven-foot-six-inch) Yao has become the face of the Beijing Olympics around the world, many Chinese here see his success as embodying China's rising global aspirations in other areas of endeavor.

Still many acknowledge that China's rise has not come easy.

For months, Sunday's match up has been a topic of conversation with many fans lamenting a lack of tickets, while others hope China will not lose too much face against a team led by superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

'As long as we don't lose by 30 or more points, the Chinese will still be proud of our team,' said fan Chen Shaofei.

'The US players are just too good, Kobe and LeBron are awesome, China just cannot match up to them.'

Sunday's match will be the fifth basketball game between the two nations at the Olympic level with the US winning all previous four by large margins.

China's line up, trumpeted as the nation's best-ever, is largely the same that took eighth place at the Athens Games in 2004 and had a similar result at the 2006 World Basketball Championships.

Besides key players all being four-years older and more experienced, the most significant change is the addition of centre Wang Zhizhi who just returned to the national side after a four-year stint in the NBA.