Blake Griffin gets most rebounds since February against Hornets

Blake Griffin looked like a completely different player between Sunday and Monday.

In Sunday’s 107-91 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Clippers’ star power forward had a season low in points (12) and rebounds (4). He also shot five for 17 from the field.

The following night, he nearly had a triple double with 22 points, a season-high 16 rebounds and nine assists in his team’s 113-92 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Griffin said that since the Clippers were missing Matt Barnes because of a calf injury, he put in extra effort to get rebounds. The result -- he grabbed the most rebounds that he’s had since Feb. 26.

“With Matt out, I just had to attack the defensive glass,” he said. “Especially with Marvin Williams, he’s around the perimeter a lot. I didn’t want to be out there contesting or just blocking out. I wanted to come back in and help out on the defensive glass.”

Griffin is averaging a career-low 7.5 rebounds a game this season. In his first season in the league, 2010-11, he averaged 12.1 rebounds a game.

The Clippers are definitely feeling that regression. They currently have the second-worst rebounding average in the league (36.4) a game.

On Monday, Griffin not only attacked the glass on the defensive end, but on the offensive end too.

He has been both praised and criticized this year for his jump shot -- a shot he worked on and greatly improved over the summer, but may be relying on too much now instead of using his dominant inside game.

Chris Paul said he had a talk with Griffin about that before the game.

“We both realized that our bread and butter used to be when I would attack downhill and he was rolling to the basket, so we’re trying to mix that in as well as some of the short rolls and then just trying to be aggressive early,” Paul said.

It’s a combination that’s proved and true. Monday was just another game that confirmed it.