Blake Griffin has already been out of the Los Angeles Clippers lineup for almost three weeks, and head coach Doc Rivers says we shouldn’t expect to see him return “any time soon.”
Speaking with media, Rivers made it clear that Griffin is nowhere close to returning to action, via Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram:
“He’s running, which is nice and he looked great yesterday just moving around the gym,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said before tipoff against the Heat. “But I think this thing is going to take time, if you want me to be honest. And I don’t know what that actually means.
“But I don’t think we should look for him any time soon.”
Griffin is rehabbing a quad injury that he suffered before the new year. At the time of his injury, it was expected that he’d miss about two weeks, but clearly that prognosis was optimistic.
When healthy, there aren’t many pro basketball players as dynamic as Griffin, whose high-flying exploits make him one of the most entertaining players in the NBA. Before his injury, the power forward was averaging 23.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
However, the Clippers have done amazingly well without him, going 9-0 without him in the lineup.
By no means does this mean Los Angeles would be better off without Griffin, though.
If the franchise is going to make noise during the postseason he’s going to be a very big part of the equation. Being that the Clippers are winning now, though, at least he can take his time getting better without feeling the need to rush his recovery.