Rivers: Danny Granger Will Be Available for Game 1

Just in time for the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers will be fully healthy for the first time all season.

The last piece of the puzzle in Danny Granger is expected to be readily available in the Game 1 of the 2014 NBA playoffs according to head coach Doc Rivers.

"“I’m hoping now, yes, [he will be available],” Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said. “He had a pre-workout workout already and he looked pretty good for us. But he was going up against a chair.”via GRANGER COULD PLAY IN GAME 1, PER RIVERS | Clippers.com"

Going up against the Golden State Warriors, a healthy Danny Granger could be used when Mark Jackson decides to go small, a strategy that may be often used with Andrew Bogut sidelined indefinitely with a fractured rib. On both sides of the ball he’s performed better than his competition in Hedo Turkoglu and Jared Dudley, likely sliding back into backup small forward role behind Matt Barnes.

Struggling due to subsequent injuries with the Indiana Pacers, many assumed Granger would be a wash with the Los Angeles Clippers, but he’s provided a nice bench presence adjusting his game to the pace they played at. Ironically, his best game of the season came against the Golden State Warriors, scoring a season-high 18 points off the bench in what would turn into a blowout.

With Danny Granger back in the lineup, the Clippers add another threat to an already lethal team and Chris Paul, the team’s leader, agrees with that sentiment.

“It’s very important,” Chris Paul said of Granger’s return “We already feel like we have one of the best teams in the league because of our depth and we need that.”