Los Angeles Clippers: The devastating Blake Griffin injury
After suffering through some tough early season injuries, the Clippers’ bad luck continued with Blake Griffin’s MCL sprain.
It would be an understatement to say that the Los Angeles Clippers have had a rough start to this season. After a hot five-game stretch to start the year that also saw Milos Teodosic go down with injury, nothing has gone the Clippers’ way.
Danilo Gallinari strained his left glute in early November. Patrick Beverley missed time with an injury, came back for one game, and then tore his meniscus. The lone bright spot was Blake Griffin and his excellent play to start the season.
Now, even that one bright spot has gone dark. After leaving Monday night’s game when Austin Rivers fell on his leg, the team announced that Blake Griffin will miss extended time with an MCL sprain. Griffin thankfully did not sustain any structural damage, but will miss up to two months per ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Clippers’ playoff hopes were rapidly fading even before this injury, and those hopes are now extinguished. The timing of the injury was particularly brutal, as the Clippers appeared to be righting the ship with three straight wins following a nine-game skid. While Griffin will at least be able to return this season, it will be rough sledding for the Clippers until then.
Offense: The Lou Williams show
The world got a glimpse of a post-Blake Griffin offense for the Clippers on Monday night. While Blake did not actually leave the game until late in the fourth quarter, Lou Williams nonetheless dominated against his former team. He put up 42 points on just 21 shots, including 14-of-14 shooting from the free throw line.
With Griffin now out and with Gallinari not due to return for at least another week, the scoring load falls squarely on Lou’s shoulders. Luckily, he is up to the task. The former Sixth Man of the Year (who finished second in that race last season) was lethal off the bench for the other Los Angeles team prior to his trade to the Houston Rockets last season.
Williams may have the ball in his hands more in the next couple of weeks than at any other time in his career. After playing nearly 38 minutes on Monday and starting for just the second time this season, Lou’s role will expand as the list of other viable options continues to diminish.
Future outlook
The Los Angeles Clippers tried to retool this offseason in preparation for life after Chris Paul. The team acquired two point guards — one offense-first and one defense-first — to fill the void left by their franchise player. They re-signed Blake Griffin to a five-year max deal to make him the new face of the franchise. They took a risk by trading for Danilo Gallinari and signing him to a pricey three-year deal.
All four of those players are now watching from the sidelines. The Clippers made a smart gamble, but a gamble nonetheless. They have lost that gamble for this season, and now they must decide how to move forward.
Trade rumors surrounding DeAndre Jordan have been simmering all season. Those rumors are now at the forefront of the conversations surrounding the Clippers. Jordan has a player option for next season, and each Clippers loss increases the chances that he will jump ship this offseason. With that in mind, the team might want to trade him before it is too late.
Next: 2017-18 Week 7 NBA Power Rankings
The Los Angeles Clippers have yet to play 20 games this year in what already feels like a lost season. They are faced with a difficult choice: Keep the band together in the hopes of getting DeAndre Jordan to re-sign on a reasonable contract, or blow it up. Sadly, the decision to stay the course or cut bait might be a question without a good answer.