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DURHAM, N.-C. – Zion Williamson missed his third consecutive game on Saturday and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said "we can not and we will not" put the freshman back on the court as long he will not be 100% healthy.
Williamson, the Blue Devils leader in the rebound, blocks and robberies, and his second-leading scorer, suffered a Grade 1 knee sprain in the first possession of Duke's No. 3 loss to North Carolina two weeks ago.
Krzyzewski said that Williamson was not about to play in Saturday's 87-57 win over Miami, and that the rookie's size and athletic combination requires that his knee be completely healed before testing him in a match situation.
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"There are no people like him athletically," Krzyzewski said. "His body always reacted instinctively to what his mind and heart felt, we saw it, you can not put it to less than [100 percent]. "
Krzyzewski said that Williamson "was moving" but that he had not made contact with him until now, a necessary step before returning to court. Williamson wore a polo and sweatpants for the match, standing alongside his teammates in penalty kicks and offering bumps in the chest and applause on the sidelines.
"It's better," Krzyzewski said of the injury.
The dominant victory reduced anxiety over a 1-2 Duke sequence played almost entirely without Williamson. After struggling in the paint and transition against Virginia Tech on Tuesday, the Blue Devils had an 18-10 advantage on quick chances, a 45-29 rebound advantage and a 58-32 differential against Miami.
Even if it's not Williamson, it's a personal benefit, but Krzyzewski added that this success is the result of a team's discovery of a new identity.
"We had some time to train and we did some things that were good for this team without Zion," he said. "We incorporated Cameron [Reddish] and we had a little time to customize the offense for them. "
Reddish and RJ Barrett each had 19 points, while Brands Bolden added 15. Barrett added 10 rebounds and seven assists, as well as a remarkable game with his godfather, former NBA MVP Steve Nash, to assist to action.
"We really had to learn," Reddish said. "Some of the queues we had, we did not know each other very much because we were so used to having Zion."
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