The Los Angeles Clippers are going to need to rally behind their remaining stars again, as Blake Griffin will miss the rest of their road trip and is questionable for their next home game, too.
The Los Angeles Clippers lost their latest game to the Toronto Raptors 94-112 at the halfway point of their road trip due to the bench returning to their usual ways. With lacklustre effort, poor execution and ball movement on offense and weak defense, it was a night that Doc Rivers and every Clippers fan watching would have been impatient for Blake Griffin to return. However, it looks like the team are going to need to endure at least a few more games until he’s back.
They’ve completed three games of their five-game road trip so far, with upcoming contests against the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks.
As Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times has reported, though, Griffin has returned to L.A. and will be out for the rest of the trip:
Blake Griffin has returned to Los Angeles and won't play on rest of Clippers' trip.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) January 25, 2016
On top of that, it also looks like he’ll be missing the Clippers’ first game back home against the Lakers on Friday night:
Blake Griffin also considered doubtful for Lakers game on Friday. Still working his way back into game shape.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) January 25, 2016
In Griffin’s absence, the bench have generally been playing well, and far better than they were over the initial weeks of the season. In fact, the second unit ranks 3rd in the NBA in points per game with 43.3 since December 26, the day after losing Griffin (per NBA.com). The problem, however, is that the bench also has a net rating of -1, which ranks them a far more unflattering 20th.
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That scoring number still seems surprisingly high in comparison to the numbers we’ve been used to seeing over the last couple of seasons and even the last couple of months, but the team has been stepping up. Their initial 10-game win streak and 11-3 record after he went down is a testament to that.
Despite these improvements, though, Sunday night in Toronto wasn’t the same. The defense lacked conviction, the usually effective pick-and-roll game with Pablo Prigioni and Cole Aldrich was messy, and the second unit combined to shoot a mere 12-of-30. Leading the way was Jamal Crawford, with 1-of-6 shooting and a game-worst +/- of -34.
As Doc aptly summed up, they were awful (per Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com):
"“It’s rare when you lose by 18 points and your starters all have a plus. That doesn’t happen very often. Our bench has been good, but tonight they were awful.”"
The Raptors are surging right now, and their eight-game win streak is the second longest in the NBA, losing out to only the remarkably dominant San Antonio Spurs at 13. In comparison to the opponents the Clippers have faced and defeated recently, the Raptors were tough to say the least.
L.A.’s next two matchups aren’t quite as challenging, as the Pacers are only 4-6 in their last 10, while the Hawks are only 5-5 and aren’t the formidable offensive team they were a year ago.
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The sooner Blake is back the better, of course, but in the meantime it’s going to take more dominance from Point God Chris Paul and hot shooting from J.J. Redick to lead the team forward.