Blake Griffin Sealed A Win Over The Sixers With His First Career 50-Point Game

After a trade that sent him from Los Angeles to Detroit, All-Star power forward Blake Griffin is operating in relative obscurity. Of course, NBA die-hards recognize that the veteran still has plenty of gas left in the tank but, in the grand scheme, Griffin’s star seems to be fading from where it was at an earlier point in his career.

However, the early returns on the 2018-19 season have been strong for Griffin, as he entered Tuesday evening’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers averaging 29.5 points and 10 rebounds per game. Then, the now 29 year old took things to a new level against Joel Embiid and company, exploding for a career-best 50 points (on 20-for-35 shooting and 5-for-10 from three), 14 rebounds, and six assists.

In addition to Griffin’s wild production, he produced the highlight of the night in putting Embiid on a poster.

From there, the versatile scorer unleashed his full arsenal of offensive maneuvers to create relatively easy buckets.

Griffin, who has always been a strong finisher at the rim, pulled out his entire bag of tricks.

And, for good measure, Griffin even played some quality defense and distributed to others after taking the attention of the defense.

https://twitter.com/DetroitPistons/status/1054908191228731392

Griffin did quite a bit of work in regulation and was the biggest reason that the Pistons were able to force overtime against the Sixers, even at home. However, not everything was easy in the extra frame, as J.J. Redick produced a four-point play in the final seconds to put Detroit in a hole.

On cue, it was Griffin that saved the day for the Pistons, attacking the rim and finishing to tie the game, before later converting the free throw for his 50th point to secure a one-point victory.

As Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated pointed out, Griffin’s big night eclipsed a few milestones. Included in his personal best, this marked the first time in more than a decade that someone in a Pistons uniform scored 50 points, and it was the first 50-point outing in the league this season.

There will be nights when Griffin isn’t the best player on the floor, which happens. Still, this was a trip in the wayback machine for the former No. 1 overall pick and it was a joy to watch him take apart an Eastern Conference contender to the tune of 50 points.