Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 105-90 victory over Denver

It was a productive Easter afternoon for the Clippers, who learned Blake Griffin was on the way back before easily dispatching the Denver Nuggets, 105-90, at Staples Center. Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. Blake’s coming back! Blake’s coming back! The big news came before the game when the Clippers announced that Blake Griffin had been cleared for all basketball activities and would begin serving his four-game suspension for punching team assistant equipment manager Matias Testi. Barring any setbacks, Griffin will return Sunday against the Washington Wizards at Staples Center. He will have missed 45 games by then and gets just seven games to prepare for the playoffs. It’s not a perfect scenario for the Clippers, but it should be enough time for Griffin to regain most of his timing and rhythm, not to mention his endurance. Griffin’s return will have another benefit. “I think it’s good for the morale of the group,” Clippers forward Paul Pierce said. “We always say we can get through the regular season and win a lot of games, but our goal is to win a championship and we know we can’t do that without Blake. So it’s going to be good to get him back for the last few games of the season so he can get his legs under him and hopefully we can get a hot streak going into the playoffs.”

2. The Clippers are fortunate DeAndre Jordan never left. He was the best player on the court for most of the Clippers’ victory over the Nuggets, altering shots and requiring Denver’s defense to monitor his whereabouts at all times. His line of 16 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks showcased his ability to be a force on both ends of the court. His presence was a constant menace for the Nuggets. “If we did not turn it over,” Denver Coach Michael Malone said, “then DeAndre blocked our shot, it felt like.”

3. The bench came through for the Clippers. Jamal Crawford did his scoring thing with 14 points; Jeff Green continually slashed to the basket on the way to 13 points; and Wesley Johnson broke out of a slump by making five of six shots to notch 13 points. Getting multiple contributors off the bench is going to be crucial to any extended playoff run for the Clippers.

4. Go ahead and book those flights to Memphis for Games 3 and 4 of the first round. The Clippers and Grizzlies are nearly locked into the fourth and fifth spots in the Western Conference, which would entail the teams meeting in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers trail third-place Oklahoma City by 5 1/2 games with 10 games left to play in the regular season. No way they’re making that up. Fortunately for the Clippers, they’re 4 1/2 games ahead of the Grizzlies for fourth place, meaning they’re probably holding on to home-court advantage in the series between the teams. The Clippers and Grizzlies will meet once more in the regular season: on April 12 at Staples Center. Portland has an outside chance to catch Memphis for fifth but trails the Grizzlies by 3 1/2 games, a lot of ground to make up in a little more than two weeks.

5. Now it’s on to the second night of a back to back, which usually equals a Clippers victory. The team has won eight of its last nine games in this situation, its only stumble coming March 20 against severely depleted New Orleans. Boston is not expected to have Jae Crowder on Monday because of a right ankle sprain but is supposed to be otherwise healthy. The Celtics have won four consecutive games and beat the Clippers last month when the teams played at TD Garden in the final game before the All-Star break.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch