Montepaschi Siena were defeated for the first time in Lega A this seasonover the last weekend when they visited Bologna to play against GMAC Bologna. But that was not the only thing they lost that day.
One the eve of its most important game all season, Montepaschi Siena on Tuesday announced some of the worst news possible, that All-Euroleague forward Ksistof Lavrinovic has broken his hand and will miss at least the next month of play. The announcement by Siena came after Lavrinovic underwent successful surgery on Wednesday morning to repair the broken left hand he suffered in an Italian League game over the weekend.
He is expected to be out of action 30 to 40 days, the club said in a statement. Lavrinovic (209, 29) is Siena's top rebounder (7 rpg.) and second-best shot-blocker (0.8 bpg.) as well as its third-best score (12 ppg.). Last season, his first in the competition, Lavrinovic was named to the All-Euroleague second team while helping to lead Siena into the Final Four.
This season, despite coming off the bench in all except one game of 14, Lavrinovic ranks seventh among all Euroleague players in average performance index rating (16.9) and fifth in rebounds. Siena hosts Cibona Zagreb on Thursday in Group H for what is a do-or-die game for the hosts. If Cibona wins, it will qualify for the Quarterfinal Playoffs and eliminate Siena.
