Blake Griffin Injury Update: L.A. Clippers Lose Griffin For Two Weeks Or More
Blake Griffin injury news isn’t great for the L.A. Clippers or fantasy basketball owners. Griffin’s injury could cost him two weeks of action as the All-Star power forward for the Clippers has partially torn his quad. A report from CBS Sports states that Griffin injured his quad playing against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day. Griffin will now miss at least two weeks before the injury gets re-evaluated by team doctors.
In a report from NBA.com on the 2015-16 NBA All-Star voting, Griffin is third in Western Conference frontcourt players. He currently trails Kobe Bryant of the L.A. Lakers (719,235) and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder (349,743) for the honor of having the most votes at the position. Griffin’s 182,107 votes is also just ahead of Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs (164,521), Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors (160,350), and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans (156,161).
This Blake Griffin injury comes as the team tries to stay ahead of three teams in the race for the fourth best record in the West. The Clippers (17-13) hold second place in the Pacific Division and are ahead of the Dallas Mavericks (16-13), Memphis Grizzlies (16-15), and Houston Rockets (16-15) overall. The injury to Griffin isn’t going to help matters, but the team does have some beatable opponents on the short-term schedule.
The L.A. Clippers have four more games in December, beginning with the Utah Jazz on Saturday and continuing with games against the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, and New Orleans Pelicans. Those four games take place on the road before the Clippers return home to play the Philadelphia 76ers on January 2. As for the race in the Pacific Division, the Clippers are now 11 1/2 games behind the Golden State Warriors (28-1) for first place.
Blake Griffin is having another good season for the Clippers, averaging 34.9 minutes a night through his first 30 games. Griffin is averaging 23.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per night. He is also shooting 50.7 percent from the field, showing why he is drawing a lot of All-Star votes again. To maintain that lead over Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis in the frontcourt could require that he comes back strong from this recent injury.
This injury to Griffin is to his left quad tendon, and the team is reporting that it isn’t likely to require surgery. The team will be working to provide Griffin with rest and physical therapy over the next two weeks in the hopes that it leads to a full recovery. At that point, the team will perform more tests on his leg to determine if he is ready to return to the court.
If the injury to Blake Griffin does take a full two weeks to heal, it means he will miss at least six L.A. Clippers games. That could put him on track to play against the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday, January 9, if he is cleared by that game. What the Clippers really need to see is Griffin healthy and active by the time a big road trip on January 21 begins. During that span of games, the Clippers will play the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, and Atlanta Hawks in a span of seven days.
It’s self-explanatory that fantasy basketball owners will want to place Blake Griffin on the bench until he is given a clean bill of health by the doctors of the Los Angeles Clippers. Until that time, the team will look to maintain its lead over a group of teams hoping to move up in the overall Western Conference standings.
[Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images]
