# It’s a Bird, It’s a Pain: The Confounding Powers of Blake Griffin



## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

> It wasn’t his fault — not exactly. The Clippers’ fourth-quarter collapse against the Rockets last night was a masterpiece of team failure; desecrations of basketball on that scale can’t happen unless everyone pitches in. Blaming Blake Griffin for the Clippers’ 31-point scoring deficit over the last 14:15 overlooks the vital contributions of his teammates, including Guy Who Fumbles the Ball Every Time He Touches It and Guy Who Stands in the Corner Literally Shrieking “Jesus, No, Don’t Pass to Me!”
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> Still, Griffin’s fourth-quarter gallery of scared passes from right under the basket and on-tilt layup attempts says a lot about what makes him such a hard player to figure out, even now, deep into his fifth season in the league. He has played the best basketball of his career in this year’s playoffs — 25 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists per game, and those numbers don’t begin to cover the havoc he’s unleashed on opposing defenses. Through three quarters last night, he was the best player on the floor. He shot 75 percent in a 22-point first half. He whirled around Trevor Ariza and crushed a dunk through Jason Terry. He hit a 3. At one point late in the third quarter, he banked in a ludicrous shot while twirling through the air, flipping the ball up over his head with his back to the basket. Then, nothing. The spinning circus shot was his last basket of the game.
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http://grantland.com/the-triangle/its-a-bird-its-a-pain-the-confounding-powers-of-blake-griffin/


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