Here is a play from last season where Green grabs a loose ball and waits for Thompson to get to his spot in the corner before he kicks it out. With a small sample size of five games, Griffin has converted on 41% of his attempts and is currently attempting three times more threes per game compared to last season. Through the early part of this season, it’s become very evident he wants to extend his range. Slowly, Griffin evolved by implementing a mid range jumper. He was mainly restricted to playing off ball and playing in the low block. During the Chris Paul era, Griffin was limited in his offensive role given Paul’s dominance over the ball. Now that Paul is gone, Griffin has control over the offense and should have room to finally evolve. Chapter 3: The evolution of Blake Griffin ![]() The Clippers doubled down and signed Griffin to a five-year extension which re-established him as the main cornerstone of the franchise. This past season, they went through a complete overhaul by trading Paul to the Houston Rockets and letting J.J. The Clippers were unable to get over the hump and past the second round of the NBA playoffs. ![]() Green has since established himself as a perennial defensive player of the year candidate and vaulted himself ahead of Griffin as one the best players in the NBA. Green is running down the court taunting Griffin with his tongue out as Griffin stares away and tries to ignore him. This exchange by Green and Griffin is emblematic of how things have been since that playoff series. Green was still a relatively unknown player. They went toe to toe in a series that ended in seven with the Clippers claiming victory.īlake Griffin finished the the 2013-2014 campaign third in the league MVP voting just behind Kevin Durant and LeBron James. The Warriors were fresh off a surprise playoff run from the 2013 postseason and ready to make a deeper playoff push. The Clippers and Warriors faced off in a first round series during the 2014 playoffs as the three and six seed respectively. Draymond Green was a 23-year-old forward that was backing up David Lee. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors were a young up and coming team that was built around their back-court of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Clippers were seen by many to contend with the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs for a trip to the NBA Finals. ![]() They were newly built around Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, and Blake Griffin. Who loses? Fans who have to watch a hilariously bad shooter shoot.Flashback to about four years ago and the L.A. It worked: Jordan shot just 4-12 from the line, and now other teams are going to join in. Mark Jackson used the bright lights of ESPN to employ a 'Hack-a-DeAndre-Jordan' strategy once L.A. Monta Ellis shot just 6-19 from the floor against Billups and Randy Foye only the usually mediocre Golden State frontcourt put on a good show as David Lee had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Andris Biedrins had 10 points on 5-5 shooting and eight rebounds, three blocks and no turnovers. He turned his ankle in a preseason game Tuesday and was a question mark going into Sunday's game if that injury isn't allowed to heal properly, Golden State's season could spiral very quickly. A clearly hobbled Stephen Curry scored just four points in 33 minutes of action he shot 2-12 from the floor and had more turnovers (five) than assists (four). The Warriors had problems all over the place, despite being in the game into the second half. Sam Amick On SI.com: Lob City A Work In Progress Chauncey Billups added 21 as the starting two-guard.įollow SB Nation NBA On Twitter | Get Scores And More Delivered To Facebook Blake Griffin, CP3's All-Star finisher, scored a game-high 22 on 9-18 shooting. In what could become a central piece of L.A.'s identity, the team offered up just 10 turnovers for the game the club was sure-handed in preseason as well. ![]() Paul scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting with nine assists and just two turnovers. But the Clips managed to be impressive nonetheless, breaking away late for a 105-86 win over their rivals in Oakland. Clippers didn't supply the gift of Lob City we saw glimpses of during the preseason in the team's Sunday opener against the Golden State Warriors.
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