Houston Rockets center Yao Ming broke a bone in his left foot during Monday night's game at Utah and will miss the team's last four games of the NBA season.

Yao suffered the injury late in the first quarter. After scoring a basket, he came down on another player's foot.

He missed the second quarter as he had the foot examined and never returned.

The Rockets lost to the Jazz 85-83.

The 7-foot-6 Yao, who was averaging 22.6 points and 10.3 rebounds this season, had five points, two rebounds and a block in 8:09 before leaving the game.

Houston, who has already been eliminated from playoff contention, is still without All-Star and team leading scorer Tracy McGrady, who is out for the rest of the season with a back injury.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2006)