Blake Griffin spent more time during Game 1 wearing a red dry-fit shooting shirt than he did on the court.
Foul trouble plagued the Clippers’ superstar in Saturday’s playoff opener, something that was clearly frustrating afterwards when he said he kept putting himself “in a hole.”
Griffin fouled out of Game 1 with 48 seconds to go, but he played just 19 minutes. His 16 points, including the first six of the third quarter, were overshadowed by the number of whistles that blew against him.
But Griffin said Sunday that he’s not worried about bouncing back.
Griffin picked up two fouls early and played the remainder of the game in constant foul trouble. Still, the MVP candidate and four-time All-Star expects to bounce back. He’s averaged 16.9 points per game in his postseason career despite being limited to less than 20 minutes in his last three Playoff games. He was hampered by a severe right ankle injury in the final two games of the 2013 Playoffs.
“Blake is an outstanding player,” Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said. “What has made him tougher now is his ability to shoot the basketball. He’s separated himself and put himself in the MVP discussion by elevating his game from dunks and breakaways to comfortable posting and a very good jump shooter. We’re not going to do it with one guy. We’ve got to do it collectively.
“I’m sure at times Jermaine will be on him. But with Jermaine, and the miles that he has on his body, it will depend on how he’s looking on the floor.”
David Lee, who predominantly draws the task of guarding Griffin also got off to a shaky start. He had three turnovers on three possessions to start the game, had four shots blocked and had three first-half fouls. He managed to bounce back in what somewhat amounted to a postseason debut. He played in half of the Warriors Playoff games in 2013, but was limited by a hip injury.
“Well I got off [to a] bit of a slow start really because of getting hurt last year; this is really my first playoff game,” Lee said. “So I got off to a little bit of a slow start and once again, just like our team, I just tried to be resilient and the guys told me to keep being aggressive. The second half, [I] found a better rhythm and when the shot blockers came, I thought we did a pretty good job with interior passing and getting a lot of easy buckets in the paint through that, so just tried to keep going at it. They’re very an athletic team; they’re going to make plays defensively and it’s my job to continue to be aggressive.”
Griffin vs. Lee, Head-to-Head All-Time
Career Playoff Stats