Los Angeles Clippers: The Question Surrounding The Return Of Blake Griffin

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin has been medically cleared to return to action. But, his conditioning may be an issue after he serves his four-game suspension

On the same day that the Los Angeles Clippers clinched a playoff berth by defeating the Denver Nuggets, it was announced that all-star forward Blake Griffin has been medically cleared to return to action.

Before he can take the court, he must serve a four-game suspension for the physical altercation he found himself in with equipment manager Matias Testi in Toronto which led to his broken hand. Griffin will also lose five games worth of pay, totaling $859,442 (per ESPN)

Including Sunday’s game against Denver, Griffin will also sit out games against Boston, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City this week before an expected return against the Washington Wizards on April 3.

This news is huge for the Clippers as they will have no time to waste in trying to re-integrate Griffin into the lineup. As of the game on April 3, the Clippers will have only seven regular season games before the playoffs.

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While Griffin’s presence will provide a huge boost in morale for the team, he likely returns too late to impact the regular season. The Los Angeles Clippers are fourth in the Western Conference standings; six games behind the third-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

His exact impact will unfortunately not be seen until the playoffs. Griffin has not played since Christmas Day but his team has done remarkably well without him. Behind the amazing leadership of Chris Paul, the Clippers have put themselves in a position to gain homecourt advantage in the first round of the post-season.

Coach Doc Rivers spoke before the game Sunday about Griffin’s conditioning and revealed that it could be an issue.

[via ESPN]

"“[Griffin] had no endurance as far as his wind… We figure we have five or six or seven or whatever more days and honestly I don’t know if you can get him in the condition to play 35 minutes or 30 minutes right away…The question, more importantly, is not the starting; it’s how many minutes in a row can he play. If we went by yesterday, it’d be three.”"

Rivers’ statements address the fear that has hovered over the team the longer Griffin has sat out. After being out of action for several months, could Griffin be a detriment if he is not 100 percent? A healthy Blake provides a much needed boost on offense, anything less could mess with the team’s chemistry as they’ve grown accustomed to playing without him.

If the current standings hold, the Clippers will play the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. The two teams have a history in the playoffs. In 2012, the Clippers rallied from a 27-point deficit in their first game in the first round against Memphis. They would later go on to win the series in seven games.

In 2013, the Grizzlies got revenge by overcoming a 2-0 deficit to eliminate the Clippers in the first round.

This season, Memphis has exceeded expectations by remaining in the playoff picture despite losing their star Marc Gasol for the season due to injury. Notably, they defeated the Cavaliers earlier this month despite being without their starters.

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The competition between the top four teams in the West is expected to be the biggest story of the 2016 playoffs. Blake Griffin’s return looks to make things much more interesting.