Duke Basketball: What second loss of 2019-20 season means going forward

The Impact of Playing with Injuries

Duke’s Wendell Moore is out indefinitely after receiving surgery on his right hand because of a broken bone that occurred when the Blue Devils beat Miami on January 4th. Without Moore, Duke struggled against Georgia Tech as they were neck and neck for a majority of the game before pulling away and winning by nine and now Duke has lost to Clemson.

However, Moore was not the only player who missed Tuesday’s game against Clemson as forward Joey Baker sat out due to an ankle sprain he suffered in the days leading up to the game, in practice.

The question is, did Duke lose this game because both of these players didn’t suit up?

The answer to this question is no, they didn’t lose this game because both of these players were out, however, had both of these players been in, the outcome might have been different.

Duke lost this game because they shot poorly from the free throw line, lost the rebound battle and underestimated a good Clemson team, not because they were without Baker and Moore.

However, playing without Baker and Moore is a major blow for Duke and Moore will likely be out for the foreseeable future, but Baker is more of a question mark.

Moore and Baker combine for an average of 13.9 points per game and they have both had at least one game where they scored 17 points or more. This just goes to show you that playing without both of them is a major hit for Duke and if they are both out for an extended period of time, Duke will dip a little.

Now, by dipping a little I don’t mean Duke will lose three or four games, I simply mean Duke might not win games in as convincing of a fashion as we have become accustomed to this season.

Baker shouldn’t miss too much time, in fact, there’s a chance he plays Saturday against Louisville, but not having both him and Wendell Moore will hurt the Blue Devils quite a bit and that is exactly what happened Tuesday night.