Los Angeles Clippers must face a difficult games ahead without without their power forward Blake Griffin. The 27-year old player will have a minor surgery on his right knee and he is expected to miss 3-6 weeks.
Griffin’s knee surgery is scheduled to be conducted on Tuesday, Dec. 27 according to CBS Sports and the Clippers will miss his main forward for 3-6 weeks.
The 6’10” forward is averaging 21.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists this season. His strong presence in the rim has helped DeAndre Jordan in the Clippers defense as he has improved his defensive ability.
His arthroscopic surgery is a necessary procedure to fix problem in his right knee. The surgery is considered a minor and a cleanup procedure according to FOX Sports.
His absence will give head coach Doc Rivers a headache. Last year, when Griffin was out for more than three months, they struggled to keep their gameplay. It seems his best option is to optimize the Clippers back court by combining J.J. Reddick with Chris Paul. It is because LA Clippers do not have a strong forward to replace Griffin.
For Griffin, he had been having problem with his knee since his freshman year in college. He had a torn cartilage in 2008 and underwent an arthroscopic surgery. During his rookie year with LA Clippers in 2009, another knee problem got him. At that time, he broke his knee cap after a slam dunk in just days before the 2009-10 season began.
The injury made him missed the entire 2009-10 season. However, after he was fully recovered in the 2010-11, he showed his true game. Griffin won the rookie of the year. He has been delivering a steady performance for the Los Angeles Clippers since then. In his sixth seasons with the Clippers, he averaged 21.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
Watch Griffin’s highlight performance in with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists on Dec. 18, when the Washington Wizards defeated Clippers 110-117 below:
