Anadolu Efes Istanbul suffered a big blow on Sunday when learning it has lost its starting center and leading scorer Nenad Krstic with a broken left forearm.

The big man is expected to be back on the floor in six to eight weeks, which means he is likely to miss the rest of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season.

After three Euroleague games so far, Krstic leads the competition with an average performance index rating of 22.3 per game. He has been team’s leading scorer with 17.3 points, and second best rebounder with 4.7 boards per night.

The former two-time All-Euroleague First Team center got hurt during fourth quarter of a Turkish League game against Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir. With just under 9 minutes left in the game, Krstic was fouled hard by Karsiyaka’s big man Mutlu Demir. Trying to continue the game, Krstic made both free throws he was awarded, but during the next trip down floor he could not catch a ball thrown his way, and left the floor in pain.

X-rays after the game revealed a fracture that will leave him sidelined until late December or early January. Efes started its Euroleague campaign in Group A with two wins and a loss, and next faces a road game at Nizhny Novgorod.

Source: Euroleague.net