Blake Griffin rejoins the Clippers today after the leg injury, after the punch that led to the hand injury, after the punch that led to the suspension, after the punch that led to more doubt regarding the team’s emotional stability (with playoff meltdowns in consecutive seasons already part of the analysis) and after L.A. went from winning at a .567 pace with him in the lineup to .667 without.
That makes this, the matinee against the Wizards at Staples Center (3:30 p.m. ET, League Pass) the first day of the rest of their life. Lives, plural, actually, because Griffin will face more intense scrutiny than ever before just as the Clippers as a whole are on the clock to finally leave a good impression in the postseason.
They have always needed each other, Griffin’s scoring and passing at power forward a requisite next to the limited offense of DeAndre Jordan at center, Jordan’s defense a safety net for every Clipper, Chris Paul’s continued play as one of the backcourt stars of the league. Never like this, though. Never like April 2016 with seven games in the regular season to get locked into collective playoff mode at the same time Griffin tries to locate his game.
If the entire burden doesn’t fall on his shoulders at this particularly interesting point of his life, with the Clips claiming about a month ago they can’t make a long run without Blake Superior in a good place, this has at the very least become a proving ground. Torn quadriceps in the left leg in December, fractured right hand from hitting the assistant equipment manager outside a Toronto restaurant in January, the four-game suspension for the swing that ends today, the spotlight of how he carries himself moving forward — that’s a lot to recover from at the same time.
Plus the likelihood of being a central piece in an alternate lineup. That’s a big part of the return as well.
Welcome back, center Blake Griffin.
The Clippers want it and feel like they caught enough of a glimpse before the quad injury to know it can work. In other news, they may need it.
The traditional big lineup, with Jordan and Griffin side by side, is proven. It’s power ball. It’s known, the complementary offense of Griffin and defense of Jordan. But coach Doc Rivers has wanted to get better at small ball, Griffin or Jordan rather than Griffin and Jordan with four wings and point guards fanned out around the perimeter or maybe Jeff Green at power forward and three perimeter threats.
That was the plan all along coming into the season, after the Clippers signed Paul Pierce and Wesley Johnson and re-signed Austin Rivers in the offseason. They worked with the small lineup in October practices and exhibition games. They knew the value in general in a changing league and specifically because it only took a glance up the California coast to be reminded, like everyone else, that the championship would now go through the Warriors and the lineup with 6-foot-7 center Draymond Green and 225-pound power forward Harrison Barnes.
And then they bailed on the idea.
“We were playing it,” Doc Rivers said. “We just weren’t good at it. We didn’t play it long enough because we always had the big lineup to go back to. Whenever we struggled with the small lineup, it was ‘Let’s get our big guys back on the floor.’ I think what happened here is we came into the year wanting to be a better small team because we felt like we had the personnel to do it. We just didn’t trust it enough. That was more on me than the players.”
The possibility of facing the best team in the league at going small, the Warriors, was only part of the thinking, the coach added. That potential matchup is important, Rivers said, “but I think it’s important to have both. Last year we didn’t have the personnel to do it. This year we did and we worked on it in camp, but we just vacated it way too early, and that’s on me.”
He wants to rely on it more now and needs Griffin to make it happen. Imagine defenses having to contend in short bursts with Paul, J.J. Redick in a standout season, Jamal Crawford as a candidate to win Sixth Man of the Year a third time, and Green, acquired in February, as a facilitator. (“Good with the ball, good shooting the ball, good scoring the ball, can play-make a little bit,” Kings coach George Karl said of Green. “That was the only trade at the trade deadline I said, ‘What the hell? How’d that happen?’ That was a ‘wow’ pickup, I thought. I thought the Clippers hit the home run on that.”) Or Jordan anchoring the defense with the same scorers, or Austin Rivers, Johnson or Pierce, an option even as he struggles with his shot.
It would be for situations, not full-time use. It would be for everyday use, not just deployed in the event they play the Warriors.
“Adding Jeff gives us even more versatility,” Redick said. “I think with him we’re able to play even more small ball. When Blake comes back we’ll obviously want to play Blake and DJ together because they’re pretty good, but it does give us options, which is something we’ll need in the playoffs.
“I think the ability to do it in stretches is important. I don’t know that our team will do it for long stretches. Everybody talks about kind of Golden State as the measuring stick, but they have the personnel to do that. You could obviously make an argument that their best players are those five guys in that [small] lineup. For us, that would mean taking Blake or DJ out of the lineup and they’re two of our three best players, so for us I don’t know if it makes as much sense to do for long stretches.”
The idea was never to make it the primary lineup anyway. But this is something the Clippers have been wanting to do better since October … and may need to do in May.
“I am excited to see it because we’ve never done it with Blake at the 5,” Doc Rivers said. “The key for us is we need to get him back so we can actually work on it.”
The chance starts today.
Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
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