LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Blake Griffin is making the leap to heights even he has never reached.
The Los Angeles Clippers forward is best known for the gravity defying dunks that have made him a regular on highlight reels, but Blake is evolving as a player and taken his game up a notch to emerge as one of the most lethal weapons in the NBA.
As the Clippers have navigated through key injuries and a transition to first-year coach Doc Rivers, it is their 24-year-old power forward who has led the way with a game that continues to blossom.
“Blake has been sensational. He’s his own breed, there’s nothing really like him,” Clippers coach Rivers told reporters. “He just does so many things. We’ve found other things that he can do that we didn’t know.”
Griffin’s capabilities were on full display on Wednesday when the Clippers (37-18) outgunned the Portland Trail Blazers (36-17) 122-117 in a Western Conference shootout. Matched up against fellow All Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Griffin won the battle and the contest with a 36-point, 10-rebound effort.
The performance featured the dunks we have come to expect from Griffin, the ones that will send fans searching them on YouTube clips, but it was a night rooted more in substance than style.
The 6-foot-10 Griffin flashed his ball-handling and passing, an ever improving mid-range jump shot and tough defense in the paint. These developments have been in the making, but Griffin’s new-found consistency is a chief reason the team now heads to the All Star break looking like a formidable West contender.
“(Griffin) facing up has just become a weapon,” Rivers said about the options at Blake’s disposal when he gets the ball facing the basket.