National Basketball Association

Bulls C Asik to miss rest of season

Published May. 25, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Chicago Bulls backup center Omer Asik will miss the rest of the season because of a broken left fibula.

Asik was injured in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals at Miami. An MRI and CT scan taken before Game 4 on Tuesday confirmed the injury. He tried to play anyway, lasting just two minutes, and general manager Gar Forman said Asik wasn't risking more damage.

The Bulls said the injury will not require surgery and that the recovery time is about six weeks.

''It was something they thought that they thought that he could play with,'' coach Tom Thibodeau said. ''He tried to go. He couldn't. And that's the way it is.''

A rookie, Asik averaged 2.8 points and 3.7 rebounds during the regular season and appeared in 15 playoff games. The Bulls trail Miami 3-1, with Game 5 in Chicago on Thursday.

''Omer is going to be great,'' Luol Deng said. ''He's going to be a good player in this league. The things he's doing right now as a rookie, a lot of people don't notice it. But if you know the game, you see the little things that he does that a lot of rookies don't know yet.''