Clippers update from shootaround: Blake Griffin injury

Clippers rookie power forward Blake Griffin tried to hit the right notes this morning and say all the right things, but there was no hiding his discomfort and displeasure, both byproducts of the news that he will be out up to six weeks with a stress fracture of his left kneecap.

"It's a setback, but it's not major," he said during the team's shootaround at the training facility in Playa Vista. "It's something that I can work through and hopefully use this to work on other things to get better.

"It is a stress fracture of my kneecap, so it's a serious injury but it's not something that requires surgery. It's not something where I'm going to be out six months, half a year."

Griffin, the NBA's No. 1 overall draft pick in June, suffered the injury during the Clippers' final preseason game, on Friday against the Hornets. He winced when he came down after a powerful dunk late in the third quarter.

He reassured the team's training staff that night that he was fine. Even as late as Monday, Griffin was insisting to the Clippers he would be ready for the season opener tonight against the Lakers.

Clipper update: Decision time

With the regular season fast approaching -- though not quite fast enough for our taste -- the Clippers are still facing a couple of critical decisions.

OK, semi-critical.

Who starts at small forward? Incumbent Al Thornton or veteran (but Clippers newcomer) Rasual Butler?

And power forward? The ageless Marcus Camby or the kid, rookie Blake Griffin?

The second decision is really no decision at all. Camby is out with a sprained left ankle and has barely started shooting on the court, let alone doing anything more active.

"I'm assuming he [Griffin] is going to start based alone on Marcus being out," Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy said. "And we'll go from there."

The regular season kicks off against the Lakers on Tuesday.

Thornton-or-Butler has not been decided. "I've got four days, five days to figure it out," Dunleavy said.

Thornton started in the Clippers' final preseason game, against the Chris Paul-less Hornets on Friday night. Paul is out with flu-like symptoms, and Dunleavy said one of the Clippers' doctors treated Paul earlier in the day.

And a pregame session wouldn't be quite right without questions about what Dunleavy likes about Griffin's game.

"Everything. There's actually nothing about his game that I don't like," Dunleavy said. "You can't say that about a whole lot of people. People, coming in, thought he wasn't going to be a very good outside shooter. I think he's going to be a better than good shooter.

"There are things at his position he does as well as anybody I've seen . . . handle the ball well and pass the ball well for a power forward."

--Lisa Dillman

Clippers after deadline: Griffin's dazzling dunk

The Clippers were like excited kids who just came off the playground and had seen something incredible.

"His nickname is Amazin'," DeAndre Jordan said. "His new nickname is Amazin'."

Jordan shouted over to teammate Sebastian Telfair, saying: "Bassy! Bassy! Amazin', right?"

Telfair: "Amazin'."

They were reacting to Clippers rookie Blake Griffin's spectacular flying dunk over Lakers center DJ Mbenga in the fourth quarter on Sunday at Staples Center. The praise was flying fast in the locker room.

Rainy day at Camp Clippers

There are plenty of weighty topics to mull for the Clippers since the REAL season starts two weeks from today.

You have the attempted merging of many new moving parts, Sebastian Telfair's sore hamstring (he is out for Wednesday's game vs. the Spurs) and how to dispense those precious minutes of playing time among the glut of big men.

And, above all, Blake Griffin's nickname.

Unlike Eric Gordon - who was called Hobbit from Day 1 (it has since been shortened to Hobbs) - there doesn't seem be an obvious one for the No. 1 draft pick. Blogger ClipperSteve has suggested Blake Superior.

(I'm in favor of that one, having actually been in chilly Lake Superior for a few seconds as a youngster)

Griffin told a couple of us the other day that he is usually called BG or Griff. He is mystified by one Clipper teammate, though.

"Ricky (Davis) keeps calling me AG. I don't know, man," Griffin said, shaking his head.

Apparently Davis did it once, and then called him AG again.

Well, Griffin's middle name is Austin. Maybe Ricky Davis knew this and happens to be well-informed?

Uh, no.

"Just a coincidence," Griffin said, emphatically.

-- Lisa Dillman

Photo: Blake Griffin. Credit: Chris Pizzello / Associated Press

Do the Hustle: Blake Griffin crashes but doesn't burn

You can be assured that Clippers rookie Blake Griffin chasing down a loose ball and going over the scorer's table won't be an isolated incident. 

That's his preferred gear -- all out.

"That's the only way I know how to play," he said on Friday night after making his preseason debut. "Right now. Until maybe I'm a vet. Seven years in the league, I might learn from one of these guys.

"But that's my M.O. That's what I'm going to do."

Griffin admitted to feeling the jitters before he went into the game, saying:

"Especially sitting there the first quarter, sitting on the sideline. I didn't get a seat. I had to sit on the floor. Once I was in there I was fine."

-- Lisa Dillman

Clippers' Blake Griffin gets ready for his first preseason game

Blake Griffin's long basketball torture  -- having to sit out of scrimmages because of an injured left knee -- finally ended today.

The Clippers' rookie had been one tremendously frustrated power forward since he hurt the knee a few days before training camp opened late last month. Limitations were lifted today at practice and he is scheduled to appear in his first preseason game, on Friday, at Staples Center against Portland.

"It felt good, man," Griffin said. "Especially the last three days I've been able to go out there and run up and down but not do any five-on-five or anything like that. It was great."

His teammates and the coaching staff noticed his increasing agitation at having to observe.

"It was tough to sit out, especially not having even played a single game," he said.

Clippers' Blake Griffin expects rookie duties to increase upon his return

It may be small and it may attract undue attention. But Clippers forward Blake Griffin proudly wears a pink Dora the Explorer backpack to carry around teammates' sweat bands and socks as part of his rookie initiation.

"It's mine now," Griffin said of the backpack, which was originally purchased by Clippers forward Brian Skinner for the team's No. 1 draft pick. "Everybody likes it."

Now that Griffin is fully healed from a sore left knee, will participate in contact drills Thursday and is expected to play in the Clippers' home exhibition game Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers, he expects the rookie duties to increase.

"We were talking about buying Krispy Kremes today," Griffin said.

How many boxes will he have to buy? After all, this doesn't bode well for a team who's pledged to improve its conditioning this season.

"Hopefully not much," he said, smiling.

Griffin may be a self-professed gym rat. But underneath his blue collar and hard-nosed attitude is a player with a great sense of humor. After all, he joked to The Times' Lisa Dillman that "I'm kind of a loser" for his obsession with working out and going to bed early.

He's handled his rookie initiation the same way.

"He’s been a good sport about it," Clippers shooting guard Rasual Butler said about Griffin. "He’s a great kid. He’s going to have an awesome year."

That is why Butler says people shouldn't expect many outlandish tasks for him to do.

"He is the No. 1 draft pick," Butler said. "You can’t do too much to him."

--Mark Medina

Photo: Dora the Explorer and Boots the Monkey. Credit: Nickelodeon.

Blake Griffin cleared for Clippers' next practice on Thursday

Clippers forward Blake Griffin is cleared to participate in contact drills during the team's next practice on Thursday after injuring his left knee Sept. 24 -- five days before training camp opened.

"I've only been out a week, but it feels like a month," Griffin said after practice Tuesday at the Clippers' practice facility. "Even watching practice, it's rough."

The injury also forced Griffin to miss the team's first exhibition game --a 108-101 loss to the Golden State Warriors -- but Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy expects that Griffin will suit up for the team's first home exhibition game Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

"I would think so," Dunleavy said when asked if Griffin would play Friday. He estimated that Griffin would play between 20 to 24 minutes primarily at power forward. "I don't think he's going to be out of shape. We'll see how he is with timing and how he reacts to playing. I would expect him to play Friday."

Check back at latimes.com/sports for more coverage from Clippers practice.

-- Mark Medina

Clippers injury update (UPDATED AT 2:55)

Another day of practice, another list of injured players for the Clippers.

No. 1 draft pick Blake Griffin will sit out again today, as he nurses his injured knee. This morning backup point guard Sebastian Telfair tweaked his left foot, and free agent Taj Gray is also out with a sore knee. X-rays on Telfair's foot were negative, and they are calling it a mid-foot sprain. He is day-to-day.

The Clippers play their first exhibition game Sunday against the Warriors in Oakland.

-- Lisa Dillman

Dunleavy is keeping an eye on sidelined Blake Griffin

You feel a little bit for the Clippers' Blake Griffin.

Enough talking, and more talking, about being the league's No. 1 overall draft pick in June. The kid just wants to play and do it all.

Now.

So having to sit by and watch his teammates in training camp because of an injured left knee is hoop torture for the power forward from Oklahoma. Naturally, the rookie is pushing the envelope.

"He is feeling better," Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy said on today. "He was out there yesterday before the second practice. I was upstairs there in my office and I was watching him and he was shooting."

Dunleavy's office at Clippers' HQ in Playa Vista has a nice clear view of the court.

Then I saw him do things he shouldn't be doing," Dunleavy said. "Had to bang on the window and go down and explain to him, 'Look, you're out until ... this thing needs to rest. If you jump around, it will not clear up and it's just more days [out].

"Just do what you're told to do."

What exactly was the forbidden move?