Blake Griffin Dealing With Swelling in Left Calf

You may have noticed Blake Griffin wearing a sleeve on his left leg during yesterday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers.

According to Broderick Turner of the LA Times, Griffin told reporters that he was wearing the sleeve to combat swelling in his left calf. The swelling is the result of being kicked during Friday night’s loss to the Detroit Pistons, according to Griffin.

Blake’s performance wasn’t noticeable hampered by his calf during this game, though he did settle for jumpshots and didn’t go to the rim aggressively. At first glance, it seemed to simply be a low-energy game.

Griffin missed 41 games with a torn left quadriceps muscle, and was still hampered by that injury late in the season before re-aggravating it in the playoffs. He sat out the Olympics this summer to recover. The quadriceps muscle is the front of the upper leg, while his currently injured calf muscle is the back of the lower leg.

There was lingering concern over the summer regarding Griffin’s ability to fully recover from his torn quadriceps, and the potential for long-term damage. At the moment, there seems to be no reason to link his current calf swelling to the prior quad injury, but it’s worth monitoring.

In addition to stating that he was kicked in the Detroit game, Griffin has been a part of a November where the Clippers have played the densest schedule in the league. The team hasn’t had two days off in between games since their first two games of the season. These types of bumps-and-bruises injuries add up over strenuous stretches of the season, so monitoring Blake Griffin’s minutes and health will be key for the Clippers training staff.