As if they haven't had enough injuries this season, the LA Clippers may have just been dealt one that's simply irreplaceable. Star forward Blake Griffin went after a loose ball and suffered what looked like a bad left knee injury while colliding with teammate Austin Rivers and Los Angeles Lakers' guard Lonzo Ball.
Here's at look at where Blake Griffin injured his knee. #Clippers pic.twitter.com/MsXHyGJuOq
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 28, 2017
Austin Rivers landed on Blake Griffin's leg, he was able to limp off but left the game pic.twitter.com/8qsh1qnZs6
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) November 28, 2017
Griffin initially walked off the injury and spoke with head athletic trainer Jasen Powell, but the following possessions, on both offense and defense, showed that he was severely lacking mobility and quickness in that left knee. LA called timeout with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of a tight contest, and Griffin headed to the locker room with Powell, his night over.
After the game, Griffin quickly got dressed and left the arena. He was unavailable for comment, the team deeming his injury a ‘left knee injury.'
Rivers discussed the play in which he landed on Griffin's knee with ClutchPoints, saying he hopes the injury is simply a hyperextension and nothing worse.
“He seemed down after the game,” said Rivers with a low voice displaying his concern. “I was telling him ‘I think it's hyperextended,' but I don't know sh**. I was the one who landed on him. We were both going after the ball, and the dude drove into me and I fell on his knee. I heard him scream right in my ear because he's right there. And I felt his knee go down. I felt it and I was like ‘sh**.'
“That's why after the play, you see me grabbing him because I knew I landed on him. I hope, from what the play looked like, it's just hyperextended… I hope. If that's the case, he might sit out a game or a two, but he'll be back. I hope it's nothing worse than that.”
Griffin finished the game with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists in 36 minutes of action and his team leading 112-110. From that point on, Lou Williams scored eight straight points to close out the Lakers and bring his total to a whopping 42 points.
“I spoke to him,” added Rivers. “He was down, but I think he's just nervous. He's gone through so much. I think he's at the point where he's just like ‘not again.' He's worked his ass off, look at how he's playing for us. You don't want that to happen to anybody let alone that guy. I think that's where his head's at right now. I think he's just hoping that everything's fine and so are we.”
When asked about the potential for Griffin to miss time and how the Clippers would respond, Rivers didn't even want to go into that possibility.
“Everybody would have to step up, guys would have to be more aggressive. I don't even want to think about it. I don't even want to put that out there and, knock on wood, he's okay.”
Griffin is set to undergo further testing and evaluations on Tuesday morning to know the severity of his left knee injury. It's safe to say the entire Clippers' organization and their fans are hoping for the very best after Griffin re-signed with the team on a five-year, $171 million deal deal this past summer.
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