After missing the past five games with a sprained knee, Zion Williamson will be back in action for Duke tonight.
He’s baaaaaack.
The Blue Devils are one step closer to a completely healthy team with the return of Zion Williamson who will return to the lineup for Thursday’s ACC Tournament tilt vs. Syracuse. Williamson got hurt 36 seconds into Duke’s loss to North Carolina on Feb. 20 when his sneaker exploded, and the Blue Devils have gone just 3-3 in his absence.
There is no word yet on how much Williamson will be able to play in Duke’s quarterfinal matchup with Syracuse, but the fact he is taking the court is a huge win for the Blue Devils. Duke has already ruled out forward Marques Bolden for the ACC Tournament with a knee injury of his own, so any minutes Williamson can provide will be a huge help inside.
Williamson is an elite player when he takes the floor, averaging 21.6 ppg and 8.8 rpg while shooting 68.3% from the floor. Duke’s Twitter account was very excited to announce the return of Williamson to the lineup.
Mike Krzyzewski will likely use the ACC Tournament to try and help Williamson shake off the rust from his three-week layoff. While winning the title in Charlotte would be nice, Duke is more concerned about winning a national championship, and having Williamson ready to rock next week is the priority here.
It will be interesting to see how Williamson impacts Duke’s matchup with Syracuse, especially considering the fact that the Orange could be a huge mismatch for the Blue Devils’ offense with their 2-3 zone. Duke is really bad knocking down shots from the perimeter, which is one way to beat the zone, so having Williamson’s interior presence could be huge.
Williamson typically hits 8-12 shots from the field in a game, and that kind of production could ease the burden on Duke’s perimeter players. If the Blue Devils get by Syracuse today, they could be staring down a third matchup with North Carolina in the semifinals tomorrow night.