If Blake Griffin broke his hand by punching a team staffer 10 or 15 years ago, then fine, it would be yet another Los Angeles Clippers episode tucked away in the thick file and passed off as typical for a bungling organization.
But these aren’t yesterday’s Clippers, or at least they’re not supposed to be, four years after the team received a long-awaited cortisone shot of credibility with the arrivals of coach Doc Rivers, Chris Paul and, yes, Griffin. And when the team distanced itself even further from the past once owner Donald Sterling was forcibly removed from the building, the Clippers were steamrolling in the right direction for a change.
When Griffin sustained a broken hand last weekend that will keep him off the court for another four to six weeks, which is being tacked onto the month he just missed with a strained left quad, it was a Benoit Benjamin bounce-back to a time when the Clippers could do little right. Shouldn’t they be weary of this by now?
While the Griffin alleged punch might be an off-court exception rather than the rule, the plain truth is the Clippers in this new era haven’t done anything special. The Clippers with Rivers, Paul and Griffin are high on promise and optimism … and low on banners of any kind. This is the team that’s supposed to get past the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder and finally compete for a title? Right.
To be fair, they haven’t exactly fallen off a cliff, and they’re on pace for 50 wins again, and anything can happen in the spring basketball carnival known as the NBA playoffs. When the stakes are raised in April and May, the Clippers will be in the mix — and Griffin, too — because this too shall pass. Yet you wonder what might happen should the Clippers fall shy of the conference finals or lose in the first round. Will Griffin’s silly shenanigans be raised in postseason conversation and result in trade talk? Will the patience in Clipperland continue to be as thick as owner Steve Ballmer’s wallet?
The good news is the Clippers have played well without Griffin, maybe better than they or anyone expected. They’ve won 14 out of 17 without their All-Star forward and believe Rivers when he says: “I would’ve taken this record healthy.”
They’re home for the next three games, including the Los Angeles Lakers tonight (10:30 ET, NBA TV) and the Chicago Bulls on Sunday (3:30 ET, ABC). They look nothing like the team that opened the season 7-8 and was a prime candidate for a shakeup. To compensate for the loss of Griffin, Rivers is getting the near-max from just about every player in the rotation, and no surprise, Paul is the point man for the rally. The resiliency of the Clippers comes as a pleasant surprise, considering this is the same squad that gagged on a 3-1 lead to the Rockets in the 2015 Western Conference semifinals.
It was then that a visibly shaken Rivers threw down the hammer, saying major changes could be in store if the team continued along this path, and the insinuation was he wouldn’t be shy about trading Paul, Griffin or DeAndre Jordan. Of course, when summer arrived and Jordan verbally committed to the Dallas Mavericks during free agency, the Clippers blinked. Rivers and others rode to the rescue and camped out at Jordan’s house until the conflicted big man changed his mind.
For the sake of Rivers and the Clippers, they need to keep guzzling whatever they’ve been drinking without Griffin. That’s the only way they can stay within shouting distance of the leaders in the West, since keeping pace with any of them seems a stretch. Just look: San Antonio and Golden State are busy pummeling teams almost on a nightly basis, and Oklahoma City could have a healthy team in the playoffs for the first time since 2012 when they went to the NBA Finals. The Clippers, by design, are supposed to belong in that group, but oh well. At least they haven’t drifted from the pack like the Rockets.
In his dual role as GM, Rivers added Lance Stephenson, Paul Pierce and Josh Smith last summer to spruce up the bench. Smith is already gone, shipped back to Houston; Stephenson’s jersey rarely needs washing and Pierce has been more locker-room bark than on-court bite. Yet despite this, the Clippers are 30-16 while overcoming that and Griffin.
Part of this is because, very subtly, Rivers is doing one of his better coaching performances. He has tweaked his system without Griffin and by necessity has relied less on low-post scoring and more on up-tempo play and outside shooting. That’s tough to do in midseason, but Rivers and the Clippers are pulling it off.
This stretch also shows the value of Paul, who’s averaging over 18 points and is fourth in assists and producing the high level of leadership that sets him apart from most players. The hope is Paul’s body is able to hold up under the increased load.
“For me, I’ve got to lead this team,” Paul said. “We’ve got games to win. We still have a job to do.”
Rivers: “He’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever known.”
Rivers has also leaned on J.J. Redick and the guard has responded by assuming a portion of Griffin’s scoring load. Redick has averaged 17 points in December and January (with a career-best 40 against the Rockets) by not just settling for long shots, but attacking the basket perhaps more than ever in his career.
And Jordan is a bit more efficient lately, running more pick and rolls with Paul to average 14 points (along with 14 rebounds) in January. Overall, the Clippers took advantage of a light schedule early in Griffin’s absence and are keeping their mistakes low (only 12.6 turnovers a game, third-best in the league) to give themselves chances to win games.
Rivers doesn’t appear inclined to make a major trade by the February 18th deadline. Had the Clippers continued along their slow start, maybe. But playing well without Griffin has given Rivers a greater sense of reassurance, and conventional wisdom says the Clippers will be even better once Griffin returns.
“We just have to keep it going, and that means everyone doing their part,” Rivers said. “I know Blake feels horrible about what happens, but we’ll welcome him back when he’s ready to return.”
Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here or follow him on Twitter.
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