Yao was held out of a meaningless game against the Grizzlies Wednesday night in Memphis.

The Rockets seem to be sticking to their guns about managing Yao’s time wisely to avoid unnecessary wear-and-tear. After all, this was the Rockets third preseason road game in a row within a 5-day period.

Turns out they didn’t need him after beating the Grizzlies 101-97. Click here for the Chronicle story on the game, including some commentary on the Rockets’ decision to try to make up for not having the height of Dikembe Mutombo in the lineup using the quickness of their power forwards.

Click here for Raymond’s photos from Yao’s pre-game shootaround.

Dwight Howard (ORL) | 6-11, 265 lbs | 4 yrs pro

Head-to-head ‘07-’08

DH: 18.5 ppg, .500 FG%, 9.5 rpg, 5.5 fpg

YM: 22.5 ppg, .472 FG%, 13.5 rpg, 3.5 fpg

DIAGNOSIS: You may be wondering why DH only comes in at no. 3, especially considering most NBA analysts and bloggers have put Howard as the no. 1 center in the NBA now. It’s mostly because Orlando is one of the few teams that will let their center try to match-up one-on-one with Yao and Yao has had some of his best games against Howard. Like most centers in Howard’s mold, Yao is just too big for him.

When healthy, Yao really hasn’t been contained in the last two years one-on-one by anyone in the league. With the arrival of a rookie center with true center size and uncommon explosiveness (and who frighteningly resembles a young Shaquille O’Neal) in Greg Oden and the evolution of Andrew Bynum, that might soon change, but for now, if teams want to single up on Yao, it means they’re satisfied with letting him get his.

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