Blake Griffin: Rousing debut with Clippers

I was watching the Clippers-Blazers late Tuesday night, doing some work on my laptop at the same time, which means sometimes my eyes are late to the ballgame. I saw a Clipper fastbreak that ended with a nifty bounce pass to a layup.

And iconic announcer Hubie Brown went nuts. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Then came the replay. There it was. That was a break started — and led — by Blake Griffin.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin dunks during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) ORG XMIT: LAS101

Wow. What a debut for the rookie from OU who had to sit out last season with a knee injury. In a 98-88 loss to Portland, Griffin had 20 points, 8-of-14 shooting, 14 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one blocked shot.  

We knew Griffin could play. Did we know he could play like this? It’s one thing to do against Morgan State and Syracuse. It’s quite another to do it against  Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge.

The most impressive thing about Griffin was his offensive skills. Everyone assumed Griffin still could jump out of the gym and thunderously dunk. But could those smooth moves to and around the basket translate to the NBA? The answer was provided less than one half into his first NBA game.