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Rockets center Yao Ming breaks left foot
(AP)
Updated: 2006-04-11 10:49
SALT LAKE CITY - Houston Rockets center Yao Ming broke his left foot
when another player stepped on it late in the first quarter against Utah on
Monday night.
Houston Rockets center
Yao Ming, of China, is driven from the arena locker room by security
director Al Higham after his NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz on
Monday, April 10, 2006, in Salt Lake City. Yao broke his left foot in the
first quarter. The Jazz beat the Rockets, 85-83.
[AP] | With four games remaining and the Rockets
out of the playoff race, Yao is almost certainly done for the season, although
he planned to get the foot looked at again Tuesday.
"Maybe it's the best
thing for me and when I come back I'll be stronger," Yao said while wearing a
protective boot in the locker room after the Rockets' 85-83 loss to the Jazz.
"Tomorrow, I'll go see a doctor in Houston, so I can't say anything
before that."
The 7-foot-6 Chinese star said Utah's Mehmet Okur kicked
him on the side of the foot, but he tried to play through the pain for a few
minutes before it became too much.
Utah's Andrei Kirilenko appeared to
step on the same foot while the two were under the basket. Yao got the offensive
rebound and converted the three-point play after Kirilenko was called for a
foul.
After making the layup, Yao bent down and rubbed his left foot
before going to the line with 4:35 left in the first quarter. He came out with
3:51 left in the period and went to the locker room.
Yao said he hadn't
seen the video yet, but thought it was Okur who kicked him on the side of the
foot.
"It was a fight for position," Yao said. "It happens on the
court."
Yao, averaging 22.6 points and 10.3 rebounds, had five points,
two rebounds and a block in 8:31 before leaving the game.
Houston was
already without leading scorer Tracy McGrady, who is out for the rest of the
season with a back injury.
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