Clippers after deadline: Wrap from Portland
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Blake Griffin was one of the last players to leave the locker room Thursday night in Portland, Ore., looking and sounding exhausted after the Clippers’ 108-93 loss to the Trail Blazers.
Which begged the question: Was this the most tired he has been?
‘Yeah, probably,’ he said. ‘I’ve been playing a lot of minutes both nights, and before that, Lakers and Indiana, back to back. Just got to make sure I do a good job of getting my rest.’
Griffin, who played 44-plus minutes, spoke about teammate Eric Gordon’s performance. Gordon scored 35 points, hitting a career-high seven three-pointers, one shy of the franchise record. And a day after tearing a ligament in his finger.
‘He played great. He played out of his mind,’ Griffin said.
Gordon also had five rebounds and four assists. He was seven for 11 from three-point land and five of them came in the second half. The Clippers’ record for three-pointers in a game is held by Quentin Richardson, who had eight against Boston on Feb. 4, 2004.
There was no repeat of the fireworks between Blazers point guard Andre Miller and Griffin. The last time the Clippers were in Portland, on Dec. 5, Miller went after Griffin and ended up receiving a one-game suspension the next day. It also halted Miller’s consecutive games-played streak at 632, then the highest in the NBA.
A bitter Miller had plenty of things to say in the aftermath of the incident and suspension. But not to Griffin.
After Thursday’s win, Miller was asked if he had spoken to Griffin since that game.
‘That’s NBA basketball,’ Miller said. ‘I think he understood.’
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--Lisa Dillman
