EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -All-Star point guard Jason Kidd brushed off concerns about his strained left knee and said he would play for the New Jersey Nets against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
“I feel good,” Kidd said Friday morning, hours before Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal. “I had a bump on the knee. I went to the doctors yesterday and everything will be fine. I’ll be ready to go tonight.”
Kidd hurt the knee in the opening minutes of Game 2 on Tuesday, trying to take a charge against Raptors forward Chris Bosh.
Instead of practicing Thursday, Kidd was seen by an orthopedic surgeon. A manual examination of the knee was performed, but nothing else, Kidd said.
He had physical therapy Friday morning at the Nets’ practice facility before taking part in a shootout.
“I feel like I will be full speed,” said Kidd, who added the swelling in the knee has gone down. “There shouldn’t be anything I can’t do. This morning I felt great. We’ll see how everything goes tonight.”
Nets coach Lawrence Frank said formally that Kidd would be a gametime decision.
“If there is a possibility he’s going to play, he’ll play,” Frank said.
Kidd has averaged 11 points, 11 assists and 10.5 rebounds in the opening two games in Toronto, which the teams split.
If he couldn’t play, Frank might start rookie Marcus Williams at the point, but he also has the option of moving shooting guard Vince Carter there.
Williams has played well at times this season, but Frank did not play him in the second half of Game 2 because he struggled.
Expect Kidd to go, though. In 2004, he played 58 minutes on basically one leg in a Game 6 loss to Detroit in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“It’s the playoffs,” Kidd said. “Bumps and bruises you put aside and do everything to help the team. I’ll just go out and do what I have been doing this series and, hopefully, get a win tonight.”
Kidd said his current injury isn’t similar to 2004, when he needed surgery.
“It’s just a bruise,” Kidd said. “We’re dealing with it. It shouldn’t be any problem. It should not have an effect on me or my performance.”
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