After a much-shorter-than-anticipated recovery period, LA Clippers star Blake Griffin has been made available for tonight’s matchup with the Lakers.
Moments ago, the Clippers announced that Blake Griffin will make his long-awaited return to the court vs the Los Angeles Lakers. Griffin has been out since November 27th with a knee injury. During his absence, the Clippers have gone 6-8, keeping them afloat in the competitive Western Conference.
Before the injury, Griffin was having another stellar season. At the time he went down, Griffin was averaging 24 points, eight rebounds, and five assists per game. He was also shooting 43 percent from the field and 35 percent from deep. Blake already has set a career-high with 41 made three-pointers this season. Regardless of what kind of team you have, it’s difficult to consistently win games when your best player goes down.
The Clippers are still without Patrick Beverley and Danilo Gallinari, who are sidelined with injuries. However, LA has gotten Milos Teodosic back, and hopefully plan on getting Gallinari back in the coming weeks.
The Clippers currently sit at 14-19. They are only three and 1/2 games out of the playoff picture. Although it’s going to be a bit of a climb, they find themselves only four losses back of the fifth seed. Considering how many injuries this LA team has had to deal with, being only a few games out of the playoffs is truly a good sign. Especially now that they’re getting their best player back.
The upcoming schedule is definitely in the Clippers’ favor. They have numerous games against sub-500 teams. LA will also face a lot of teams ahead of them in the standings, which gives them numerous opportunities to get themselves into the top eight.
As the second-half of the season is upon us, it’ll be exciting to see the Clippers get healthy, and hopefully make a strong playoff push.