Clippers find new problem in Blake Griffin's strong return
The Los Angeles Clippers have two weeks to reintegrate Blake Griffin before the NBA playoffs start.
Griffin, who played his first game since Christmas on Sunday, doesn't appear as if he'll need the whole two weeks.
That's great news for the Clippers, considering the importance of these playoffs — Chris Paul isn't getting any younger, and the Warriors and Spurs don't appear to be going away anytime soon.
But a new problem did arise in Griffin's return, and it's not easy to solve. Over the last eight seasons, no one has cracked it.
Griffin played 24 minutes in the Clippers' 114-109 win over the Wizards Sunday and didn't appear to have missed a beat when he was on the court with starters Paul, DeAndre Jordan, JJ Redick, and Luc Mbah A Moute.
There was concern that the Clippers' offense, which was carried by Paul in Griffin's absence, would revert to old ways with the forward back in the fold. That was not the case — Paul was the unquestioned focal point of the Clippers' offense Sunday, and Griffin didn't seem at all out of place in the slightly different system.
Griffin was a bit winded, and his shot was a bit off (2-of-7 from the floor), but he was still a game-high plus-23 in 24 minutes Sunday (next-best was Redick at plus-7.)
Those two problem areas from Sunday are sure to improve, but the outcome of the contest was not all sunny.
There was a fleeting moment, a blip in the game, that might forewarn of trouble down the road. It came in the second quarter when Jeff Green — who was acquired in the Lance Stephenson trade to replace Griffin while the All-Star was out — was on the court with Griffin.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers opted to play Green at the power forward spot and Griffin at center for one minute Sunday, and it was a disaster. One turnover, two missed shots, and really bad defense.
More than anything else, it looked off.
The same could be said for Green's whole game Sunday. The Georgetown product played only 14 minutes, scored four points, and was minus-five in the contest. He was off.
Given the Clippers' lack of depth, it's highly possible that Rivers is planning on playing Green and Griffin at the 4/5 positions in backup minutes down the stretch. It's an interesting concept, but one that found a quick hook Sunday.
With only six games left, if that combo is part of the Clippers' playoff plans, they'll need to get a lot more run together to try to find cohesion.
It's a scary proposition. It's easy to hide an inconsistent player like Green as the fifth player in a strong starting lineup, but with Griffin's return, the Clippers need Green, one of the NBA's biggest enigmas, to lead the team's second unit alongside Jamal Crawford, regardless of who is playing center.
Given that depth has been the Achilles' heel of the Clippers in playoffs past, Green's transition to second-unit ace might be more important than Griffin's return to the starting lineup.
And while it was only one game, that journey is off to a rocky start.
