LOS ANGELES — The Clippers announced Tuesday they had suspended forward Blake Griffin four games for his role in an altercation with a team assistant equipment manager last month.
The team also said his wages will be withheld for one additional game for injuries he sustained and that he will donate the salary from the five games to charities focused on disadvantaged youth in Los Angeles.
Griffin repeatedly punched Matias Testi on Jan. 23 at a restaurant in Toronto, leaving Testi with a swollen face and Griffin with a broken right hand that is supposed to sideline him until March.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers has said Griffin and Testi would both be welcomed back to the team, with Griffin expected to rejoin the Clippers after his punishment was announced. Neither Griffin nor Testi is with the team on a four-game trip that ends Wednesday against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
The news release from the Clippers was issued in the name of team owner Steve Ballmer and Rivers. The statement concluded with:
“We have made it clear that this conduct has no place in the Clippers organization. Blake is remorseful and has apologized for his actions. He is a valued member of our Clippers family and we support him as he rejoins the team. He understands his actions have consequences, and is eager to get back to work with his teammates, the organization and Clipper Nation, which starts immediately with rehab, appearances and attendance at games.
“For our team and organization, it is time to move forward which begins today and ultimately concludes when we have Blake back on the court.”
Griffin and Testi are longtime friends who got into a scuffle over teasing that went too far for Griffin’s liking, according to a person close to the situation not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Griffin was having possibly the best season of his six-year career, averaging 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 50.8 percent, but he was not selected an All-Star for the first time in his six NBA seasons because of his prolonged absence.
Self-restraint had also been an ongoing issue. Griffin was among the league leaders in technical fouls and was ejected from a game against Phoenix in November after receiving two technical fouls and another game against the Chicago Bulls in December after picking up a flagrant-2 foul for hitting Taj Gibson in the head, though the latter ejection was the result of an unintended blow.
Griffin has not played since Christmas, when the pain from a partially torn left quadriceps tendon became unbearable during a game against the Lakers.
The Clippers have gone 18-4 in Griffin’s absence while using smaller lineups and shooting more 3-pointers. Paul Pierce and Wesley Johnson have been the primary starters at power forward, resulting in some unconventional lineups that have largely benefited the Clippers.
“It’s not like we have a lot of choice in the matter — you lose Blake, you’re going to get smaller,” Rivers said Monday. “And so instead of just putting a traditional power forward in his place, we decided to put Paul and Wesley and that’s a dramatic change from Blake. Because really that’s the only way I thought we could be effective. I didn’t think we could have a traditional lineup.
“I’m hoping in the long run it helps us because we needed to have two lineups anyway. We were not very successful in the first half of the year with our small lineup, which we thought we would be, quite honestly, so this kind of forced our hand. So now we’re good at it. When Blake comes back, we have two lineups we can play and I think in the long run that will make us pretty good.”
The Clippers (35-17) have also continually improved on defense, a trajectory that Rivers said started before Griffin was sidelined by his quadriceps injury.
The team lost another member of its playing rotation last week when backup guard Austin Rivers broke his left hand against the Minnesota Timberwolves but has gone 3-0 in his absence to maintain its hold on fourth place in the Western Conference standings, which would allow it to have homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs if it can stay in that spot or move higher.
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