Sports
Report: Pistons’ Blake Griffin to Make Season Debut Monday After Injury Recovery
Carlos Osorio/Associated PressDetroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin will make his season debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.Griffin has missed the Pistons’ first 10 games with a left hamstring injury and posterior knee soreness. Detroit has gone 4-6 in his absence.The 30-year-old averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists…
Carlos Osorio/Associated Press
Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin will make his season debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Griffin has missed the Pistons' first 10 games with a left hamstring injury and posterior knee soreness. Detroit has gone 4-6 in his absence.
The 30-year-old averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists last season while leading the Pistons to their second playoff appearance in 10 years. The ex-Los Angeles Clipper is a six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA player.
Wojnarowski provided an additional update on Griffin's progress.
“Griffin, who's been rehabilitating a sore knee and hamstring since preseason, had been ramping up for a return in recent days,” he wrote. “He had several pain-free practices that cleared the way for Griffin to return to the lineup.”
Griffin had an arthroscopic procedure done in April to address left knee soreness that kept him out for six of the Pistons' final 11 games, including the playoffs. He worked through the injury to play the Pistons' final two postseason games against the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 24.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists.
The Pistons have treaded water despite injuries to Griffin, starting point guard Reggie Jackson (lower back stress reaction) and Derrick Rose (hamstring).
Jackson played the first two games but has missed the last eight. Rose, who has averaged 20.8 points in just 25.0 minutes per game, has sat for four of the Pistons' 10 contests.
Andre Drummond's dominance and Luke Kennard's scoring surge have helped Detroit stay near the middle of the Eastern Conference pack, sitting in ninth place. Drummond has posted 21.2 points and a league-leading 18.0 rebounds per game, and Kennard is averaging a career-high 18.0 points on 45.3 percent shooting.
With Griffin back, Markieff Morris figures to move to the second unit. He has started 10 games at power forward in Griffin's absence, averaging 12.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Detroit will host Minnesota on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
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