Yahoo Sports Duke's Cam Reddish is a 'game-time decision' against Michigan State due to knee injury
WASHINGTON – It turns out that another Duke player injured his knee in the Blue Devils' home game against North Carolina on Feb. 20. Cam Reddish said on Saturday that he "tweaked" his knee in that game, although he's still unsure how.
While Zion Williamson's exploding Nike and subsequent knee sprain that night prompted the sport's definitive viral moment of the year, Reddish's knee issue looms large over No. 1 Duke's regional final matchup with No. 2 Michigan State on Sunday.
Reddish missed Duke's Sweet Sixteen matchup with No. 4 Virginia Tech on Friday, after a knee issue he said occurred in that UNC game flared up in warmups. It was a surprise to everyone, including his coaches and teammates, who all expected him to play.
Reddish is a "game-time decision," according to Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who defined what's ailing Reddish's left knee as "a jumper's knee, a tendinitis." He also clarified that the injury is "not structural."
Reddish is Duke's best wing defender, third-leading scorer (13.6) and a projected top-five pick in the NBA draft. He's also one of the few 3-point threats on the Blue Devil roster, as Duke is No. 329 nationally in 3-point shooting and will struggle even more to spread the floor if Reddish misses the game. Reddish has attempted 261 3-pointers on the season, hitting 33 percent.
"It's kind of swollen, just kind of stiff," Reddish said. "Obviously, it hurts to move a little bit and to explode off of it. It's getting better. [Trainer Nick Potter] has been doing an incredible job. Hopefully I'm ready for tomorrow and we'll just go from there."
Reddish has been working with Potter, Duke's assistant director of athletic rehabilitation, since he initially injured the knee. Before Friday night, he had started every game for Duke and managed the pain. Since he realized in warmups Friday that he couldn't go, Reddish has been frantically attempting to get ready for Sunday.
"An unbelievable amount of treatment – I've been getting massages and obviously icing it a bunch and having it wrapped up so the swelling kind of goes down," he said. "I'm doing everything I possibly can to get back."
This falls in line with how he's had to care for the knee since he initially injured it.
"I've been dealing with it for a few months now and obviously Nick has been helping me trying to get back," Reddish said. "Getting a lot of treatment and trying to get in the cold tub, stuff like that. I'm just trying to get better and get ready for tomorrow."
Reddish watched the game against Virginia Tech from the bench on Friday night and said he tried his hardest to keep up his spirits and be a good teammate.
"It was tough," he said. "I wanted to be out there so bad. There was part of me that felt like I was letting the team down. Zion came up to me and was like, 'Bro, you good. We got you.' It helped me feel a little bit better."
Reddish acknowledged the tension that goes into playing on Sunday between his short-term desires and long-term goals. He called it a "tough decision" but made clear he wants to be out there.
"Hopefully I can put that jersey on again tomorrow," Reddish said. He added: "I don't know yet. If it was up to me, I'd go out there and play."
Michigan State assistant coach Dane Fife said the Spartans expect that Reddish would defend wing Matt McQuaid, a senior marksman averaging 9.9 points per game and shooting 42.6 percent from 3-point range. Alex O'Connell replaced Reddish in the starting lineup on Friday and responded by scoring four points and grabbing seven rebounds in 35 minutes, missing all four of his 3-point attempts.
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