HOUSTON -- Houston Rockets center Yao Ming will have surgery this weekend on his broken left foot and the injury could take four to six months to heal, general manager Carroll Dawson said Tuesday.

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, of China, leaves the locker room after his team's 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]

The 2.29-meter (7-foot-6) Yao was hurt in the first quarter of an 85-83 loss to Utah on Monday.

An MRI performed in Houston on Tuesday showed a crack in the fifth metatarsal bone of the foot, Dawson said.

"It can be fixed two ways," Dawson said. "You could just put a cast on it, but it takes forever. The thing most people do is have the surgery."

It is not known if the surgery will prevent Yao from playing in the FIBA World Championship in Japan, which begins August 19.

Yao said he thought he hurt his foot when Utah's Mehmet Okur accidentally kicked it. Yao limped through a few more minutes and converted a three-point play before hobbling off the court with 3:51 left in the opening quarter.

Earlier this season, Yao missed 21 games following surgery to remove an infection from his left big toe. Since the NBA All-Star Game, Yao has been one of the leagues's top performers, averaging 26.6 points and 12 rebounds.

Eliminated from playoff contention, the Rockets have four games left in their injury-wracked season, starting Wednesday game against Minnesota.

Leading scorer Tracy McGrady has missed 30 games with recurring back problems. As a whole, Rockets players have missed 258 games to injuries.