Omer Asik barely made it out on the court as it was.
The Bulls Turkish backup center had a lower leg strain that would have had him sitting during the regular season but he went through warm-ups and gave it a go Tuesday night.
He was on the court for less than a minute when LeBron James fell into his leg. Asik left the court never to return.
Now he is done for the rest of this series, according to a tweet from Turkish journalist Ismail Senol (via SB Nation):
CSN Chicago has confirmed this.
That’s going to mean more minutes for Joakim Noah if he can stay out of foul trouble, plus a little burn for old man Kurt Thomas. Both of which hurt the Bulls depth, Asik has been good in the playoffs in the limited role given him.
It’s not known how this would impact Asik playing in EuroBasket for his native Turkey this summer, the tournament where bids for the 2012 Olympics will be decided. The lockout and insurance for players will play a big role in that as well.