Hawks linchpin Larry Davidson is in a race against time to be fit for this weekend's important road games against Cairns and Gold Coast.
Davidson injured his knee in the opening 20 seconds of the fourth quarter of last Saturday's 25-point home win over Perth and took no further part in the match.
After initially feeling confident about taking on the Taipans on Friday night and Gold Coast on Sunday afternoon, the 26-year-old centre's optimism waned a little yesterday.
Full coverage of the Wollongong Hawks He remains hopeful of taking his usual place in coach Gordie McLeod's starting five, but given his vexing history of knee injuries, Davidson is thinking more about the long term.
"There's some swelling in the joint and I'm probably a little less confident about playing than I was 24 hours ago," Davidson said yesterday.
"I did some stuff on the bike and in the pool this morning, but it's still a bit sore and I couldn't really push off on it when I was jogging in the pool.
"I'll just keep icing it and see how it feels in the morning. I definitely won't be rushing it, but hopefully it'll come good and I'll be able to play.
"It'd be a pretty big bummer if I can't play, but if that's the scenario I'd rather miss one weekend than twinge it again.
"It's more important that I get it right and make sure I'm back for the whole season."
Davidson is integral to Wollongong's NBL title prospects.
He ranks in the league's top 10 in three-point shooting (50 per cent, 1st), rebounds (7.3, 5th) and blocked shots (1.2, fourth) and is the leading contender for NBL Most Improved Player honours.
The Hawks have won two of their three meetings with Cairns and went down 84-78 in their only clash with the Blaze, in round two.
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