Rockets' Yao Will Play In Opener Against Lakers, Sit Out Against Warriors

The Houston Rockets' coach Rick Adelman announced that center Yao Ming will play in the season opener against the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers. He will not, however, play in the second game of their back-to-back against the Golden State Warriors.  As a general rule, Yao will not be available on both nights of consecutive games. Adelman also added that he'll most likely start the 7' 6" center and play him for about 6 minutes before determining his availability for the rest of the game.

On a more interesting note, the coach alluded to the outside forces acting on his star's playing time, noting that he has little control over when he'll get to play Yao.

Adelman, having grown accustomed to the many influences on Yao's playing time, said he probably would not have had a choice anyway.

"I imagine he'll play in the Laker game," Adelman said. "They'll probably tell us we have to play him anyway. It's a TNT game.

You win again this time, Stern.