Clippers star Blake Griffin returns to action after missing 15 games
Guess who's back? #BeRelentless https://t.co/9H9gtQe0vC
— Los Angeles Clippers (@LAClippers) March 15, 2015
He's baaack!
After missing five weeks and 15 games following elbow surgery, Blake Griffin returns and will start for the Clippers as they play Houston at Staples Center.
Griffin won't be on a minutes restriction, either.
"He just said I'm ready," Rivers said jokingly. "(Saturday) the trainers called and said if he can go, he's been cleared."
The Clippers have played well without Griffin, going 9-6 in that stretch, but having him return with fresh legs for the stretch run before postseason could be a very good thing. Griffin plays a physical game and having a rested Griffin -- who couldn't do any cardio or much activity for three weeks -- should be beneficial.
"You never know. Some people it actually hurts because their timing is off. You don't (always just) get it back. You lose your rhythm. I don't know which one it is with Blake. Some people don't do well with rest. Some people do great with rest. Sometimes you see teams doing blanket rest with guys. I don't know if i agree with that. I don't know what's right with the individual either.
"I don't think the rest could've hurt Blake for sure. He was banged up right before he went out anyway. I don't think he wanted this amount of rest. He had hard rest. Hard rest is when you can't condition. He had 3-4 weeks with zero conditioning. That's hard. That's hard to do and that takes a while to get back in shape."
Griffin, the All-Star power forward, is averaging 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
The Clippers (42-24) are fifth in the tough Western Conference standings, 10 1/2 games behind Golden State. Griffin's return could help them make a run at a higher seed over the final 16 regular season games.
"Not having Blake has hurt us in a lot of ways," Rivers said. "Teams have been able to trap CP (Chris Paul) far more than they can when Blake is on the floor because of his ability to pass. I'm sure CP is the happiest of all of them to have him back. You do find things when people are out. Even with Jamal (Crawford) out, we're finding different things to do. All you do is incorporate that. The guy coming back just has to learn what we're doing differently, but he doesn't change his game at all."
As for Crawford, there's still no timetable for his return. The final regular season game is April 14, and then the postseason starts. Asked if he would be back for the playoffs, Rivers said he didn't know. Crawford is out with a calf strain.
"I don't think he's improved at all," Rivers said. "I can't tell you that. That's not good news."
The good news was that the Clippers didn't cave with Griffin out, and now he's back for the stretch run. That will take pressure off DeAndre Jordan and Paul, who both played like All-Stars with Griffin out.
"We were 9-6. it was good. it was a difficult task for us because of the teams (we played)," Rivers said. "We went through probably the most difficult part of our schedule without our No. 1 scorer and No. 3 scorer ... To have that record when you played Houston twice, Dallas twice, Memphis twice, San Antonio once, Thunder twice, that's a brutal stretch without your key guys.
"I was really happy with our guys. They did a good job individualizing each game. We had a theme for each game. We turned it into single-game seasons."
