Blake Griffin and company embarrass the Suns
When Chris Paul decided to skip town for the Houston Rockets this offseason, an enormous amount of pressure was thrust upon Blake Griffin’s shoulders. Questions about his leadership, durability and superstar title swirled around as the Los Angeles Clippers were down arguably their most important member of Lob City.
Through two games with Griffin at the helm of the ship, Los Angeles has looked better than advertised. With that in mind, it can’t be ignored that the Clippers have been matched up against the Lakers and Suns, both of which are projected to finish among the league’s worst.
Following yet another commanding performance by their highflying superstar, the Clippers painlessly burned the Suns 130-88 in a one-sided showdown.
Griffin tallied 29 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists, playing the part of a franchise player down to a tee. Though posterizing dunks and unearthly athleticism were his calling cards upon entering the league, Griffin has evolved his game into a complete package full of step back jumpers, up and unders, and an expanded shooing range.
Regrettably, the injury bug stuck again late in the first half and took down offseason addition Milos Teodosic. While the loss of Teodosic doesn’t necessarily spell the end of the world for the Clippers, the loss of his playmaking and shooting will certainly be felt immediately.
The Clippers have a real chance to surprise the NBA and outperform their mediocre expectations, but the Suns status looks etched in stone as they’ve now suffered two humiliating losses at the hands of middling teams. Fortunately, it seems team executives have become fed up with unproductive losses at the hands of head coach Earl Watson and have fired him from his position as of Saturday afternoon.
As if that wasn’t enough, shortly after the dismissal of Watson, star point guard Eric Bledsoe cryptically tweeted his desire to leave the franchise. Just moments later, it appeared as if former teammate DeAndre Jordan was coaxing the unsettled playmaker into a Los Angeles Clippers reunion over twitter.
Having name Jay Triano as their interim head coach, the Sun now face several important decisions as they head into an integral season for their young core’s development. Whether or not they can wheel and deal Bledsoe or diffuse the situation might largely determine their success as the season progresses.
