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![]() ![]() He also made nine of 10 free throws like it was no big thing. He had only a handful of showboat dunks including a Karl Malone homage, yet he missed just two shots and one of them, incredibly, was on a botched dunk attempt. ![]() And I’m glad he is because it’s too important for our team."Īgainst the Suns, Griffin scored on all manner of face-up jumpers and twisting post moves. ![]() "I think he’s taking more than he deserves, quite honestly. "He’s handling it very well," Rivers said. If opponents think Griffin can get rattled in the regular season, he’ll get it even worse in the playoffs. He gets suspended, costing the Clippers one of their two best players at a time when the difference between first and fourth place in the Western Conference is less than five games and then there’s a new problem. The obvious problem is that it’s not 1994 anymore. There’s an old school line of thinking developing around the league that suggests unless Griffin does something about it on the court instead of putting his arms up and walking away, this will keep happening. What they don’t realize is, he ain’t that guy. He’s making jumpers, he’s posting them up, he’s more physical than they thought and I think they take it personally. They hear it and guys come in, they play him and they hear that label and the next thing they know they’re getting their ass kicked. People come in with that label and labels are hard to get rid of. I honestly don’t," Clippers coach Doc Rivers told me in his office before the Warriors game. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that all of this is coming to a head at the exact moment when Griffin is playing the best basketball of his career. Opponents don’t like his game, his commercials or his tendency to exaggerate contact. ![]() There are various theories that have been around for years. Never mind all that because the whole Blake Griffin Thing is on full boil. If you were ranking players this season, you’d have him in the top 10 without argument and possibly in the top five. His free throw shooting is even up to a respectable 70 percent. He has a 17-foot jumper that he makes at a 40 percent clip, a reliable bank shot from the wings and his post moves, while still occasionally awkward, have been more effective. But that’s not all Griffin brings to the table these days. He is something like a taller version of Charles Barkley, offering a frightening amount of size, mass and athleticism. Never mind that Griffin has become one of the very best offensive players in the league. In the other locker room, Warriors forward David Lee was telling Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that it was no coincidence that there was another incident between the two teams involving Griffin. "That’s between me and him," Griffin said later. It was tense for a few moments, but they left shaking hands the way two men sizing each other up do, and O’Neal continued on his way. Griffin could later be heard saying, "Keep that shit on the court," as staffers tried to get between them. Times beat man Brad Turner, who had the best vantage point, Griffin asked why O’Neal was coming up on him. They acknowledged each other warily, O’Neal kept walking and then thought better of it, circling back to continue the conversation. Griffin was there, taking photos and talking with a group of well-wishers. On Wednesday, Warriors center Jermaine O’Neal picked up a technical foul after following Griffin back to the bench during a timeout.Īfter the game, the 17-year veteran of a thousand career games and the owner of a hellacious left hook walked slowly down the hallway. Tucker was suspended one game for his elbow and this is not the first time something like this this has happened to Griffin. He is to Blake Griffin what a Civic is to a Maserati, but everyone’s equal in a scrum. Tucker is the Suns’ locker room leader, a sort of David West type who commands respect because, according to Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek, "They’re all afraid of him anyway." A second-round pick who played only 83 minutes as a rookie with the Raptors way back in 2006, Tucker worked the overseas circuit for years in Israel, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Italy and Ukraine before resurfacing with the Suns last season. Best of Sunday Shootaround * Something special in Brooklyn ![]()
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