Clippers’ Blake Griffin Named Western Conference Player Of The Week
Blake Griffin has only been back nine games after he missed twenty straight due to minor knee surgery, but he’s already made quite the impact for the Clippers just when they needed it most.
The NBA announced on Tuesday evening that Blake Griffin and LeBron James had received Player of the Week honors in their respective conferences.
For the Clippers, getting their superstar forward back was a much-needed boost after losing Chris Paul for 6-8 weeks. But, they probably didn’t anticipate this level of production right out of the gate.
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Griffin, who receives the award for the 6th time in his career, averaged 26 points, 10.3 rebounds and 8 assists in three games between Feb 6th and Feb 12th. James also led his team with a career high 17 assists against the red-hot Wizards, averaging 25.5 points,11.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds.
Since returning from injury, Blake Griffin has averaged 24.3-9.0-5.3. The biggest surprise however, has been his ability to knock down the 3 ball with some consistency, shooting 38.9% on 11 attempts during this span of recent games.
Griffin has looked as good as ever since returning, breaking the teams drought of games without a 30-point scorer, and notching his fifth career triple-double against the Toronto Raptors.
Last nights win against the Utah Jazz was the Clippers third straight after losing three in a row, and subsequently boosted Los Angeles back into the 4th spot in the Western Conference led by Blake Griffins’ game-high 26 points.
Chris Paul Update
Chris Paul is still out with a thumb injury and reportedly set to return sometime in mid-March according to Dan Woike of the LA Times.
It’s no secret that the Clippers really miss their floor general. Chris Paul is one of the best play makers and on-court leaders in the NBA, but the drop-off isn’t so steep when Blake Griffin is on the floor. The defensive presence that Paul brings to the game however is a major loss to the team. Austin Rivers and Raymond Felton will likely continue to play heavy minutes in an attempt to fill the void, but for the Clippers to continue treading water in the ever-competitive Western Conference, Blake Griffin will have to keep up his recent play.
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