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Clippers’ Blake Griffin building confidence from behind the arc

Forward Blake Griffin laughs with guard Chris Paul at the Clippers' media day on Sept. 26.
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images)
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Blake Griffin rose up and took a three-pointer on the very first play of the Clippers’ open scrimmage Saturday.

It missed.

But he was undeterred.

Griffin took three more, finishing two-for-four from behind the three-point line, showing the increased range to his game and that the three-pointer probably will be a part of his arsenal this season for the Clippers.

The two three-pointers Griffin made settled into the nets with ease, his confidence growing each time.

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“Yeah, he can make them,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s just confidence.”

None of the players talked to the media after the starters wearing white defeated the reserves wearing black, 54-53, after DeAndre Jordan made the second of two free throws with four seconds left in the intra-squad scrimmage before a near-packed house at the Bren Events Center on the campus of UC Irvine.

It was apparent from watching Griffin shoot three-pointers without hesitation that he spent a lot of time over the summer working on the long-distance shot.

“When you’re injured, all you can do is shoot,” Rivers said. “So, that’s the one thing he’s done a lot. That’s what we wanted him to work on and it looks good.”

The 2015-16 season was a tough one for Griffin.

He missed 41 games because of a partially torn left quadriceps tendon and with a broken right hand from a fight with a former Clippers employee. He then missed four games when the team suspended him for hitting now ex-assistant equipment manager Matias Testi.

Then Griffin reinjured the quadriceps in Game 4 of the first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, ending his season in late April.

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So, yes, Griffin had plenty of time to work on his entire game once he became healthy again over the summer.

Over his first seven seasons with the Clippers, Griffin shot 27.1% (42-for-155) from three-point range.

Rivers believes that Griffin, at 6-10 and 251 pounds, can shoot three-pointers from anywhere on the court.

“I don’t think it matters to him,” Rivers said. “I actually think he likes the break [wing] better than the corner, ‘cause that’s where he’s at. That’s where most big guys are at.”

Griffin also was a force inside during the scrimmage, spinning along the baseline and throwing down a nasty dunk over rookie Brice Johnson.

“I think Brice will tell you that Blake can jump,” Rivers said, laughing.

Clippers break camp

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After four days of camp, Rivers concluded that this one was the “best training camp” since he first arrived in 2013.

Rivers said it was a “comfortable camp” and that his players “picked up” information “pretty quickly.”

“The learning curve was high,” Rivers said. “It was just a really good camp. From a coaching standpoint, they were very easy to coach. I hope I’m saying that later.”

All week long, Rivers said, Marreese Speights “has played the best” in practice, showing off his three-point shooting, giving the Clippers another weapon off the bench.

Rivers also said that Wesley Johnson had an impressive camp.

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner

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