The Clippers’ nightmare start to the season managed to get worse on Monday night as All-Star forward Blake Griffin was forced to leave with a left knee injury late in a 120-115 win over the Lakers after a collision going for a loose ball.
Griffin went down to the floor to secure a loose ball as Lakers’ rookie Lonzo Ball and Clippers’ point guard Austin Rivers also went for it, with Ball running into Rivers, who fell on top of Griffin’s leg, causing his knee to bend the wrong direction in a nasty looking injury.
No official word yet on the severity of Blake Griffin’s knee injury, but – um – the video does not look good. pic.twitter.com/sUTHGml3do
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) November 28, 2017
After the game and into the early morning on Tuesday, the Clippers did not offer an official update on his status beyond it being a left knee injury. Austin Rivers and coach Doc Rivers did offer brief thoughts on Griffin’s status, noting that things didn’t seem good but they were still hoping for the best.
Doc Rivers told reporters Griffin’s “spirits were down” after the game, according to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz, and that he was concerned immediately when Blake went down.
“I knew immediately, I thought,” Doc Rivers said. “But then Blake said he was OK. I just saw his leg go in, and then when they switched on back-to-back plays, he couldn’t move so we had to get him out of the game.”
Austin Rivers had more succinct thoughts on the injury.
“It didn’t look good,” Rivers said. “But we’ll just have to wait and see.”
The Clippers have dealt with injury issues all year, from Milos Teodosic’s plantar fascia injury to Patrick Beverley’s knee surgery that ended his season, but losing Griffin for any extended period of time will have a far more dramatic impact on what the Clippers can do this season. Griffin just signed a 5-year, $173 million deal this summer and is the centerpiece of the franchise.
DeAndre Jordan has reportedly been the topic of some very preliminary trade talks, although it’s hard to find quality trades for him (Cleveland reportedly has some interest), but at this point everything in Los Angeles is on hold until they know the severity of Griffin’s knee injury and what his timetable is for a return.
