Clippers-Trail Blazers Game 5: Blake Griffin 50/50 to play

To make matters with Chris Paul’s fractured right hand even worse, Blake Griffin is now 50/50 to play in Game 5 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ first round series against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The sudden news about Chris Paul‘s right hand fracture was hard enough to believe already. As things quickly got out of hand for the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 4, though, losing their point guard in the third quarter, Blake Griffin was also suffering with a sore quadricep. It’s clearly a continuation of what kept him sidelined for three months this season, and after returning with a partial tear, he’s never quite reached 100 percent again.

And after showing more tentativeness and reduced explosion as he sat for most of the end of Game 4 against the Portland Trail Blazers, Griffin is now questionable going forward, to0.

Because when it rains for the Clippers, it absolutely pours.

It wasn’t hard to see that Griffin wasn’t himself soon after Paul went down. He was slow to switch defensively, hesitant to rise and contest players attacking the rim, and said he felt something go in his leg when he planted his feet on one play in the post.

ESPN’s Arash Markazi has confirmed that it was a quadriceps injury, leaving Griffin with a 50/50 chance to play in Game 5:

"To make matters worse, Clippers forward Blake Griffin suffered a left quadriceps injury shortly after Paul’s injury in the third quarter and was limping noticeably before being taken out for the game’s final 5 minutes, 48 seconds.“It doesn’t look great for him, either,” Rivers said when asked about Griffin, before adding there is a “50-50” chance Griffin will play in Game 5 in Los Angeles on Wednesday."

So, yeah, the Clippers may be down two superstars for their next contest against the Blazers. One was bad enough; two gives Portland an even better chance to continue their momentum that’s allowed them to come back from 0-2 down.

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Before the injuries even took place, the Clippers were off to a slow start in Game 4. They shot 33 percent in the first half (still only three percent worse than the Blazers) and were struggling to find much offense outside of Paul. Griffin wasn’t himself in the post (now we have the clear reason why), J.J. Redick finished 3-of-13 from the floor, and Jeff Green was the lone burst of scoring off the bench with 17 points.

On top of that, some lapses in defensive effort and awareness, freeing up the likes of C.J. McCollum (19 points) and Al-Farouq Aminu (30 points, six threes) with slow switches and shot contests let the Blazers hold the lead for the entire game. And once some easy put-backs spurred them on even further, Portland wouldn’t be denied, gaining more momentum as Paul and Griffin went down.

Of course, it’s still possible for Griffin to play Game 5. And now more than ever, that’s what the team needs. However, that’s not the concern here when considering the bigger picture.

Next: What does CP3's injury mean for the Clippers' playoff run?

Because with the obvious fact that Griffin isn’t 100 percent, there’s no reasonable way to argue that the Clippers’ chances to make the Western Conference Finals are as bright as we briefly thought on Monday before Paul’s injury occurred.

Before even considering the Warriors waiting in the next round, the challenge of the Blazers just got a whole lot tougher.