{"id":3063,"date":"2016-12-20T07:58:55","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T12:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=3063"},"modified":"2017-06-08T02:42:03","modified_gmt":"2017-06-08T06:42:03","slug":"blake-griffin-out-knee-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2016\/12\/20\/blake-griffin-out-knee-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"Blake Griffin Out 3-6 Weeks After Knee Surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Los Angeles Clippers<\/strong> power forward <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/griffbl01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blake Griffin<\/a><\/strong> will undergo what has been described as a &#8220;routine arthroscopic procedure&#8221; today to remove loose bodies from his right knee.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Blake Griffin will have routine arthroscopic procedure to remove loose bodies from right knee. Expected out 3-6 wks.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9dYX3Z1IUj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/9dYX3Z1IUj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Clippers (@LAClippers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAClippers\/status\/810961836069646336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 19, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The five-time <strong>NBA All-Star<\/strong> is expected to\u00a0sit out three\u00a0to six weeks as he recovers.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Blake Griffin Out 3-6 Weeks After Knee Surgery<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Groundhog Day for the Clippers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>For the Clippers franchise, this\u00a0announcement is a real-life Groundhog Day. Griffin has spent portions of the last two seasons off the court due to injuries. He was limited to 35 regular-season games in 2015-16 because of a torn left quad and broken right hand.\u00a0The quad injury was aggravated in the playoffs, causing\u00a0Griffin to make an early exit during Game 4 of the Clippers&#8217; first-round playoff series against the <strong>Portland Trail Blazers<\/strong>. He went on to miss Games 5 and 6. The Clippers lost the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/playoffs\/2016-nba-western-conference-first-round-trail-blazers-vs-clippers.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>series<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to the Blazers, 4-2.<\/p>\n<p>Griffin was also notably absent for a stretch\u00a0during the 2014-15 season, sidelined for 15 games due to surgery on his elbow for\u00a0a staph infection.<\/p>\n<p>This season, Griffin has played exceptionally well, averaging 21.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game, in 26 contests. The team itself, however,\u00a0has been inconsistent. Despite exceptional talent and a deep bench, the Clippers have gone 6-6 in their last 12 games. They&#8217;ve lost what should have been some easy match-ups against less talented <strong>Eastern Conference<\/strong> teams, and they took a beating from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nba.com\/warriors\/gameday\/20161207\/recap\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Golden State Warriors<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What this Means for the Franchise<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If history is any indication, the Clippers will do just fine without Griffin for a few weeks. During his absences in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, other players stepped up to fill the void. During the stretch of more than three months that Griffin missed last season, for example, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paulch01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Paul<\/a><\/strong> averaged 21 points, 10.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds; <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/redicjj01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.J. Redick<\/a><\/strong> averaged 17.3 points; and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordade01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeAndre Jordan<\/a><\/strong> averaged 14.2 points and 14.4 rebounds per game. Additionally, the Clippers were sixth in offensive rating and fifth in defensive rating over that period. There is really no need for\u00a0Clippers fans<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>to worry. In the words of <strong>Kendrick Lamar<\/strong>, \u201cwe gon&#8217; be alright.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the upcoming weeks, the Clippers should look to <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/speigma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marreese Speights<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/piercpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Pierce<\/a><\/strong> to play significant roles, particularly with DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul on the floor. The three-point threat created by Speights and Pierce will help spread the court, giving the\u00a0wildly successful Paul-Jordan pick-and-roll even more room to operate. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/riverau01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Austin Rivers<\/a><\/strong> should also contribute a lot during this stretch. Rivers, one of the more underrated Clippers, has heart, hustle, and the ability to get to the rim. I anticipate that he will have more than a few big games in Griffin\u2019s absence, whether starting or coming off the bench.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Talk of a Griffin Trade Heats Up Again<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Of course, with this latest setback, chatter about trading Griffin is heating up\u2026 again.<\/p>\n<p>The Clippers&#8217; inability to get far in the playoffs over the last few years has caused many an NBA pundit to call for a break-up of the \u201cbig three\u201d of Griffin, Paul, and Jordan. Many, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/video\/clip?id=18243860\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">including former <strong>Indiana Pacers<\/strong> star\u00a0<\/a><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/roseja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Rose<\/a><\/strong>, feel strongly that the Clippers would be better off without Griffin.<\/p>\n<p>With Paul, Griffin, and Redick becoming free agents after this season, and Jordan following next year, perhaps a trade is worth some serious consideration. Griffin\u2019s injuries are certainly cause for concern, and the Clippers&#8217; demonstrated ability to win without him suggests that he might not be a necessary piece to their puzzle. Trading Paul or Jordan is not an option; they are simply too fundamental to the franchise\u2019s functioning and leadership.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I wouldn&#8217;t trade Griffin. Not just yet. It is still early in the season, and despite recent lackluster performances, the Clippers are still in the running for\u00a0the title this year. They have the talent and ability \u2013 just look at how they handled the defending champion\u00a0<strong>Cleveland Cavaliers<\/strong> a couple of weeks ago. As long as the Clippers are fully healthy and clicking by postseason, they still have a good chance of going all the way, or at least\u00a0upsetting some of the more favored <strong>Western Conference<\/strong> teams trying to do so.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/629476046\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/629476046?et=rkciabobRApkNNPaQLyXyQ&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=LHMovMnfX3HJWEfnqELWQX4F21ddG1OfxP0QYKll6xc=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blake Griffin out 3-6 weeks: the Los Angeles Clippers big man will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on Tuesday to remove loose bodies from his right knee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1670,"featured_media":3077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,62,3],"tags":[425,65,226,229,228,378,189,468,96,202,361],"class_list":["post-3063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clippers","category-nba","category-news","tag-austin-rivers","tag-basketball","tag-blake-griffin","tag-chris-paul","tag-deandre-jordan","tag-j-j-redick","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-marreese-speights","tag-nba","tag-nba-news","tag-paul-pierce"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1670"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}