The Amazing Blake Griffin

And with a decisive game seven, the Clippers defeat the defending champions! A huge part was the dominant play of Blake Griffin. It turns out examining Griffin's game may support a very common trope (and often myth), namely the value of spacing the floor.

Recently a lot has been made about Blake Griffin's good midrange shooting. And there's an issue I have with this. Even the best players from midrange aren't really as efficient as players at the rim or beyond the arc. But, the typical response is that a player that shoots from midrange spaces the floor for their teammates. There's an issue here. If a player spaces the floor, they have to give their open teammates the ball. And that's where Blake Griffin comes in.

I ran a simple query. How many players listed as a forward or bigger have played at least seven playoff games in a season and always recorded over seven assists a game? The list  was quite short:

• Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 - 16 games, 9.0 assists/game
• Larry Bird 1986 - 18 games, 8.2 assists/game
• Larry Bird 1987 - 23 games, 7.2 assists/game
• Tracy McGrady - 7 games, 7.3 assists/game
• Blake Griffin - 7 games, 7.4 assists/game

Now, of course, Blake could easily fall off of this list depending on his upcoming performance. That said, Griffin is averaging 7.2 assists/48 minutes this season. And that leads to the point about floor spacing. Griffin's shooting efficiency is good but not elite. His career True Shooting is at 56.3%. But, his assists suggest that he may be taking slightly worse shots to help get better shots later when he passes the ball. After all, DeAndre Jordan is shooting absurdly well this season. With Griffin, Chris Paul, and his own skill, it's easy to see how.

Another absurd part of Griffin's playoff performance so far is that he's averaged 13.1 rebounds a game. This is next to DeAndre Jordan, who is averaging 13.3 rebounds a game! So Griffin is passing like an elite point guard, while playing next to Chris Paul! He's rebounding like an elite big, while playing next to DeAndre Jordan! And yes, he's shooting a lot. His shooting efficiency went down in the first round, but it's worth noting he was playing against the Spurs, who ranked #2 in defense this season.

Earlier this year we noted that Blake Griffin had been primed to take a leap in performance this season but hadn't. It's fair to guess that injuries factored into that. But, if he's pulled a Shaq and gotten healthy in time for the playoffs? Well, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan have shown they are championship caliber.