Clippers forward Blake Griffin shakes off old tactics

Reporting from Sacramento —  There was the hack-a-Jordan (DeAndre) strategy, and the Phoenix Suns tried their physical best to slow down Blake Griffin with a 38-year-old weapon, Grant Hill.

A day later, the Clippers rookie, Griffin, maintained that the ageless one did not get to him.

“No, not at all,” Griffin said before Monday’s game against the Sacramento Kings. “He just tried to be really physical, use all his strength. Him being a vet, he got calls. He got a call there on the block out.

“In my mind, I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to outdo him. He’s trying to shut me down.’ ”

And what about the trash talking that Hill said was coming from Griffin on Sunday?

“If you want to come in and play physical like that you better be ready to play physical,” Griffin said. “You can’t come out and start pushing me and expect me not to do anything back. That’s all I have to say about that.”

Meanwhile, Jordan was funny when he spoke about the Suns’ late-game strategy against him.

“I was trying to run away from Steve [Nash] on the last one,” Jordan said. “The third time, we got a rebound and I started running … and I said, ‘Ah, Steve, that hurt.’ He was like, ‘Are you OK?’ I said, ‘No.’ And he was like, ‘Good.’ ”

Etc.

Rasual Butler, who did not play against the Suns, had limited minutes against the Kings. He played two minutes in the first half, had one assist and took no shots. Butler is averaging 6.3 points per game, and has been in double figures only once since Nov. 12. … Griffin on getting a money clip as a present from Baron Davis: “He gave me a normal-sized one. … I don’t know if he picked it out. His girl might have picked it out. You never know.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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