No Griffin, yet Clippers go forward and defeat Nuggets, 119-102
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As the Clippers prepare for basketball life without Blake Griffin for a while, they have vowed to push ahead while their teammate recovers from successful arthroscopic right knee surgery.
They really have no choice because Griffin is expected to be out four to six weeks after having a procedure Tuesday to remove “loose bodies” from his knee.
The Clippers took their first step toward moving on in the absence of Griffin by easily defeating the Denver Nuggets, 119-102, Tuesday night at Staples Center.
If Griffin is out the maximum time frame the Clippers listed, he would miss 20 games and wouldn’t return until early February.
But as for the present, the Clippers are 2-1 this season when Griffin has been out.
They built a 29-point lead Tuesday on the strength of J.J. Redick’s sizzling three-point shooting and double-doubles from Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan.
Redick went six for six from three-point range before he missed from beyond the arc in the third quarter, completing his night going seven for nine from distance for 27 points.
Paul had 16 points and 15 assists and Jordan had 13 points and 13 rebounds
“We have to be better period, with or without Blake. Like we’ve been terrible the last two or three weeks. We’ve been terrible,” Redick said, referring to the Clippers’ 7-6 record in their last 13 games. “So we’ve got to be better, period. You can point to a bunch of different stuff to what’s going on. We have four to six weeks to figure it out while Blake’s out.”
After Griffin had his surgery, which was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said the two spoke via text. Rivers said Griffin, who will continue to undergo treatment and evaluation by the Clippers’ medical staff, assured him all was well.
“We texted back and forth today and he said everything went great,” Rivers said. “He felt great. So, that’s good. He’s at home resting.”
Paul Pierce (seven points) got the start for Griffin against the Nuggets, who made only 11 of 39 three-point tries and whose starting guards, Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris, combined to make only one of 15 shots from the field.
But going forward, Rivers said Pierce, Brandon Bass or Austin Rivers could be the starter.
“Most likely we’ll probably go more opponent-based,” Doc Rivers said. “That’s what we did last year at times too and that’s what we’ll do this year. Like Paul will start [Tuesday night]. There will be a night that Brandon starts. There will be a night that Austin starts. It will probably be one of those three, but it will really go on personnel a lot for us and the opponent.”
This is not the first time the Clippers have been in this predicament of not having an injured Griffin.
They will miss the 21.2 points and 8.8 rebounds Griffin contributes per game this season.
But when Griffin missed a stretch of 45 games last season recovering from a partially torn left quadriceps tendon and broken right hand, the Clippers went 30-15.
“Unfortunately, we’ve done this before. It’s not like, ‘Oh man, what do we do?’” Paul said.
“Blake’s going to be OK. Nobody’s down.”
broderick.turner@latimes.com
Twitter:@BA_Turner
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