Redd out with left knee strain
By Charles F. Gardner
Sunday, Jan 27 2008, 04:38 PM
Bucks guard Michael Redd suffered a left knee strain while dunking the basketball in Toronto on Friday night, and he was not available for today's game against the Washington Wizards at the Bradley Center.
It was unclear how long Redd would be out of the lineup.
Redd suffered a left patellar tendon strain on Jan. 5 of last season, when he went up for a dunk in the final moments of a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bucks went 3-17 in his absence as he recovered from the injury.
The Bucks' leading scorer recently missed four games with a deep left thigh bruise. He has played in 40 games this season (39 starts) and is averaging 23.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists.
Royal Ivey was inserted in the starting lineup instead of Redd.
Reserve forward Charlie Villanueva also was sidelined today with a lower back strain.
"It's going to be other guys stepping up (for the Bucks)," said Wizards coach Eddie Jordan. "I felt good about where we were coming in here today, and we were preparing to play this game with Michael.
"As soon as they said, 'No Michael Redd,' I got more nervous. Andrew (Bogut) has been going pretty darn good the last six or seven games. Royal Ivey is not the player he was in Atlanta; he's become a lot more efficient. We know they have capable guys that have big confidence, whether it's Bobby Simmons or Mo (Williams) or Charlie Bell. They can step up and have good numbers and have a good game against us."
Redd also was out during the Wizards' last visit to Milwaukee on Jan. 4, when he had the thigh bruise suffered in Miami two nights earlier. Washington routed the Bucks that night, 101-77, in the first of four meetings this season.