ESPN NBA

By J.A. Adande

Blake Griffin’s greatest attribute very well could have been his downfall this preseason. He doesn’t know how to shut down or slow down. If he was picking you up at your house and you weren’t ready he’d probably keep driving around and around the block instead of parking in the driveway with the engine idling.

You’re talking about a guy who was diving over the scorer’s table within a couple of minutes of checking into his first exhibition game.

Given that, the Clippers should have told him to cool it until opening night after he first injured his knee in practice four days before training camp began. Instead he was back on the court two weeks later, and was still on the court in the final exhibition game, when he exacerbated the injury while landing after a dunk. The stress fracture in his left patella is expected to sideline him for six weeks.

The prescription is simple: rest and let the knee heal, with the aid of therapy, electrical stimulation devices and the like. Griffin had already acquired a reputation as the first to the gym; now someone will have to get there even earlier to make sure he stays out.