Or at least that's what it looked like during Saturday's 77-63 win against Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament semifinal.
Smith was streaming down court, deflecting passes, playing tenacious defense and driving the lane like the toe injury that took him out of Friday's game against Maryland never happened.
With less than seven minutes to go Friday, Smith attempted to drive the lane and pulled up lame before crumpling to the ground. After doctors, trainers and coach Mike Krzyzewski rushed out to help, Smith walked to the bench under his own power, but ultimately left the court for the locker room. He returned to the bench, but didn't return to the game.
That sparked 24 hours of speculation regarding ACC Player of the Year's status not only for the rest of the conference tournament, but also the NCAA Tournament.
Duke said little about the injury Friday evening and Saturday morning except that the X-rays were negative, which left everyone to speculate the extent.
That was until an errant camera shot caught Smith in uniform waiting for the North Carolina-Clemson game to end. That was the first indication that he was going to play.
"It felt good," Smith said of the toe. "I got a shot before the game to take the pain away. At this point in the year, I'm a senior, I can't be hurt. For my teammates and just for myself I want to be on the court. So, I didn't feel it at all."
It certainly didn't look like he felt it. In fact, it looked like the greatest hoax the ACC Tournament had ever seen. Smith's 27 points led all scorers and made him the most dangerous player on the court. If you hadn't known of his injury, his play would not have seen out of the ordinary, but because his toe was one of the most talked about items during the past news cycle, it was astonishing to see him come out and play so well.
Although, if Duke were really trying to pull a fast one -- and we all know they weren't -- they should have held Smith out until the tournament final and then surprised North Carolina. Heck, for all we know, Kyrie Irving, who has been out with a toe injury since early December, could be just fine and stashed away for four months only to make a surprise, dramatic and flawless return in the NCAA Tournament.
Kat Von D Ana Paula Lemes Vanessa Simmons Chyler Leigh Julie Berry
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