With Jamal Crawford sidelined by injury, the Los Angeles Clippers must turn to Danny Granger to fill the void
The Los Angeles Clippers’ shooting guard Jamal Crawford has missed five games due to a calf injury. Crawford first strained his calf on the 26th of last month playing against the Houston Rockets, leaving during the second half of the game. After missing 3 games, Crawford attempted to come back and play when the Clippers faced off against the Atlanta Hawks, but only squeezed in 10 minutes of play before re-aggravating his calf. Crawford clearly returned too soon and set himself back even further in the process.
Although this is a setback in Crawford’s eyes, it means more court time for new forward Danny Granger.
While the Clippers have Darren Collison helping out at the shooting guard position in Crawford’s absence, getting another shooter like Granger out is a huge advantage and will provide even more long distance shooting range. As long as Crawford remains on the sidelines, Granger’s minutes will no doubt continue to rise.
Acquiring Granger after the trade deadline was a smart move to say the least; with Jared Dudley, JJ Redick and Crawford all out of the lineup due to injury, Granger fills the gap perfectly. He will continue to be a key factor for the Clippers and is critical to their success in the playoffs.
Granger played only 4 minutes in his debut game with the Clippers, but as the injuries have piled up, that number has risen to 24 minutes recently. On Wednesday, in the 111-98 win over the Golden State Warriors, Granger not only played his most minutes on the court as a Clipper, but scored 18 pts & 6 rebs , showing that he still has plenty left in the tank.
With Granger coming off the bench full throttle and ready to shoot high percentages, he’s can provide a huge boost to the Clippers offense. If performances like Wednesday continue, we could see
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