The Los Angeles Clippers are having a very strange season until now, as they are sitting on 6th place in the Western Conference, looking more like a pretender than a contender. Their roster is maybe the weakest when compared to the last several years, because of the fact that their bench is quite short. However, the team now faces even a bigger challenge, as Blake Griffin is reported to be out for four to six weeks, maybe in the most critical time of the regular season. A lot of squads around the league start pushing for better playoff positions after the All-Star break and that could spell a lot of trouble for the Clippers in the rough Western Conference.
Griffin will need surgery on his right elbow to remove the staph infection. Even though, four to six weeks is usually not a very big period of time in the long NBA season, when it’s regarding one of your best players it becomes a concern. Furthermore, for the Clippers it could feel like more. The team led by Doc Rivers has experienced all sorts of problem this campaign, barely hanging on the sixth spot in the West. The seventh-placed San Antonio Spurs are starting to gather some momentum and could soon overtake them. Furthermore, if the Clippers can’t find a way to survive without Griffin, it won’t be very unlikely for them to even fall under the eighth place.
The thing that makes Griffin absences even more problematic is the fact that there isn’t a player from the bench that could play decent in his absence. Spencer Hawes has been playing awful this season and Glen Davis’ injury problems are also very worrying. Hedo Turkoglu is the last option, but he hasn’t seen a lot of minutes this campaign and it won’t be very wise to insert him in the starting lineup. Doc Rivers will definitely have his hands full in his attempt to keep his team in the Western Conference playoff race.
“There will be guys who play more minutes that haven’t played a lot,” Rivers said. “If you can get through this, it can be a blessing in disguise. Or, it can go the other way for you.” Without Griffin playing won’t be too surprising if the things go the wrong way. Blake can just hope that his teammates can find a way to play without him and win games.
NBA News: Blake Griffin injury could prove to be critical for Clippers
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