Report: Blake Griffin set to return Sunday or Tuesday

According to reports, Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin will return to the lineup this Sunday or Tuesday.

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Blake Griffin has been out of the Los Angeles Clippers’ lineup for 15 games. That could change this weekend. At the latest, it seems it will be Tuesday when Griffin sees the court for Doc Rivers’ squad.

Multiple sources confirmed this, according to ESPN.com’s Arash Markasi.

With the Clippers hosting the Houston Rockets in a nationally televised game against the Houston Rockets, whom they currently trail in the Western Conference standings, they’d love to have Griffin then.

But it is a 12:30 PM local time start, and the Clippers’ brass would prefer to see Griffin go through a full practice before throwing him into game action. And the team, fresh off a road loss at Dallas on Friday night, will not practice Saturday and will likely not even have a shootaround prior to Sunday’s matinee matchup.

The early start will allow the Clippers to hold a full practice on Monday, and that could be when Griffin goes full bore to gain clearance to play.

The Clippers host the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Griffin is returning from a staph infection he suffered in his right elbow, an injury he suffered before the All-Star break. Rivers has said Griffin is “very close” and has looked good in workouts, but he has not yet gone through a full contact practice.

Griffin was named a 2015 Western Conference All-Star but did not play in the game in New York City. Griffin is averaging 22.5 points per game on over 50 percent shooting in 2015.

He’s averaging 7.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, as the Clippers have run much of their offense through Griffin this season when he’s been in the lineup.

In his absence, the Clippers have gone 9-6 as fellow stars Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan have stepped up their games to greater levels than they were playing with Griffin in the lineup.

Jordan even hit his first career three-pointer in Friday’s loss. That is a part of Griffin’s game which he has added recently. And frankly, Jordan is not going to continue to provide that. The Clippers would much rather have Griffin taking that shot.

Griffin is of course one of the league’s biggest stars, and the NBA would love to have him in their marquee national matchup on Sunday. But Rivers understandably does not want to rush Griffin back.

The Clippers are serious about contending for a championship this season.

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