CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Cavaliers center Ante Zizic has been placed in the concussion protocol and will be out indefinitely after getting hit in the head during the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s game against the New York Knicks.

Zizic will not play in Saturday’s game, the first of a back-to-back, against the Detroit Pistons. His status will be updated as appropriate.

The starting center for the bulk of Tristan Thompson’s absence, Zizic left Thursday’s game with 24.3 seconds remaining. By the time the Cavs’ locker room closed, Zizic was still being evaluated.

A player in the concussion protocol program will need to pass a number of steps before returning to the floor.

He is without concussion-related symptoms at rest.

He has been evaluated by a physician.

He has successfully completed the NBA return-to-participation exertion protocol.

A team physician has discussed the return-to-participation process and decision with the Director of the NBA concussion program, Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher.

The final decision on a return will come from the team physician.

On the season, Zizic is averaging 7.1 points and 5.2 rebounds. In 16 games as a starter, the second-year center is averaging 11.3 points on 55.1 percent shooting to go with 8.3 rebounds.

With Zizic sidelined and Thompson unable to practice Friday afternoon, the Cavs will either turn to Larry Nance Jr. or Marquese Chriss as the starting center -- unless they choose to play small. Drew has repeatedly spoken about his starters being dictated by matchups and with Detroit and Orlando this weekend, it would be hard to see Cleveland downsizing.

Detroit starts both Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin in the frontcourt. Sunday’s game against Orlando features first-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic in the middle.