Duke basketball: 5 questions for the Blue Devils against Wake Forest

Can Justin Robinson solidify himself as part of Duke’s future rotation?

Coming into the game with Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Duke was already short down low, with a pair of injuries to some key reserves. Marques Bolden has been out for the past couple of games with a small knee injury. The other sophomore Javin DeLaurier was also hurt and wasn’t able to play as well.

That left Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. to man the post, and a few minutes in, Carter went down for a brief minute, holding his leg. It wasn’t serious, and he was able to return five minutes in game-time later.

It provided an opportunity for seldom-used forward Justin Robinson, who played 33 minutes (mostly garbage time) coming into the game. He took complete advantage, scoring 10 points while hitting both three-point attempts, and registered two rebounds and three blocks. He did all of that in just 18 minutes.

Both Bolden and DeLaurier are expected to be back soon, if not on Saturday. But there’s a good chance that the coaching staff is going to reward Robinson for some more meaningful minutes. His ability to hit the deep ball is something his fellow big reserves can’t do, and that skill could get him some more minutes.