Blake Griffin jokes he will not run guys over for a triple-double

Blake Griffin didn’t have a great scoring game in Wednesday’s 99-78 victory over the New York Knicks, finishing with only 13 points on six-for-16 shooting.

So he turned to his passing.

Griffin tied his career high with 11 assists and grabbed seven rebounds.

After the game, Griffin acknolwedged that he knew he was only three rebounds away from finishing with a triple-double. Even though the Clippers were blowing out the Knicks, Coach Doc Rivers subbed Griffin back into the game in the fourth quarter, presumably so he could get three more rebounds.

“Doc put me back in there and guys were telling me but, at the same time, I’m not going to run over guys to try and get those three boards,” Griffin said.

Rivers has repeatedly said that he has two of the best passers in the league on his team in point guard Chris Paul and in Griffin, whose unusual passing skills for a power forward have helped make the Clippers an elite team.

“What people don’t see is even when he’s not making his shots, he still has such an impact on our offense with his passing,” Rivers said. “When you have Chris Paul who’s probably the best passer in the league, and Blake, who I think is the best passing big in the league, when they’re both passing the ball, moving the ball, we’re pretty good on offense.”

Griffin consistently averages double figures in scoring (22.6 points a game). He averages 7.8 rebounds and five assists a game, more in that category than any of the top power forwards in the NBA.

On Wednesday, when he more than doubled his assists average and nearly had a triple-double, he said he was happy with that accomplishment, but that’s not what really mattered to him.

“It’s cool, but this win and getting the rest there toward the end was the best part,” Griffin said.