Column: Clippers’ Blake Griffin is rusty, and he knows it

It was too much to expect that Blake Griffin, playing his second game after missing more than three months, would be able to hit the fast-forward button and quickly become a dominating presence again.

Adrenaline may have fueled his creditable performance Sunday in his first game back from a partially torn quadriceps muscle, a broken hand and the suspension related to the hand injury, but reality set in Tuesday and it became apparent how far off he still is from anything near peak form.

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Griffin played only 16 minutes 48 seconds Tuesday, none in the fourth quarter, and had four points, three rebounds and three assists in the Clippers’ 103-81 victory over the Lakers at Staples Center. He was rusty, and he knew it.

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Clippers forward Blake Griffin is introduced before a game against the Lakers on April 5 at Staples Center.

  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Lakers’ Metta World Peace falls into the crowd while chasing a loose ball against the Clippers at the Staples Center on Tuesday.

  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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The Lakers huddle before the game against the Clippers on Tuesday at Staples Center.

  (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

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Clippers forward Blake Griffin, right, reaches in on Lakers forward Julius Randle during the first half on Tuesday.

  (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

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Clippers guard Chris Paul, left, shoots as Lakers center Roy Hibbert defends during the first half on Tuesday.

  (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

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Clippers forward Blake Griffin, right, hits Lakers forward Kobe Bryant in the face as he reaches for the ball during the first half on Tuesday.

  (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

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Lakers forward Kobe Bryant, left, and Clippers forward Blake Griffin greet each other prior to the game on Tuesday.

  (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

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Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson, right, shoots as Clippers center DeAndre Jordan defends during the first half on Tuesday.

  (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

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Clippers forward Blake Griffin, center, shoots as Lakers forward Kobe Bryant, left, and center Roy Hibbert defend during the first half on Tuesday.

  (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

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Lakers’ Kobe Bryant looks on during the first half against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday at Staples Center.

  (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

“It’s almost like coming in the first day of camp and everybody else has been playing at their peak for a long time,” Griffin said, “so I’m a step slow, a step behind, whatever you want to call it. But it will come back.”

He made only one of five shots and committed four turnovers as what seemed destined to become a blowout for the Clippers became uncomfortably close until the Clippers seized control and outscored the Lakers 32-16 in the third quarter.

“You don’t miss three months and just walk out on the floor and start playing well. It’s just a process and obviously we don’t have a lot of time,” Coach Doc Rivers said. “But it’s a process that he has to go through.”

The process was complicated Tuesday. Griffin needed playing time, but the luxury of a huge lead allowed Rivers to hold his starters out of the game in the fourth quarter. Rivers hadn’t initially planned to play Griffin on Wednesday, when the Clippers are the visitors against the Lakers, but said he might now play Griffin to get him more chances to shed the rust that was so obvious Tuesday.

“I just didn’t want to put him back in. It was a big lead, a lot of different combinations. This was not a great one for him,” Rivers said. “I just felt kind of trapped, just watching the game and I just didn’t think of the right place to put him back in.”

Managing Griffin’s minutes will be difficult, Rivers acknowledged, because the Clippers have secured fourth place and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and so have no real sense of urgency.

“It’s really hard because guys know exactly where they’re at. It’s tough,” Rivers said. “We’re trying to use these minutes as a practice for them. Whether we win or lose, just try to get your rhythm.

“But you may get three of the guys playing at great speed and one not. I anticipated this if he came back this late. You knew that’s how it would be if you had things wrapped up, and we do. Obviously, I like that we have things wrapped up, in some ways there’s a sick part of you that wish we didn’t so we would have to play and put him in that way. It would be a little better. But we’ll figure it out. It will be fine.”

On almost any other night Griffin’s struggles might have been a prime topic of conversation. But this was a different game with a different atmosphere. The Clippers were cast in the role of a grudgingly welcomed visitor on their own court, playing for a crowd that was intent on seeing Kobe Bryant one last time and held its collective breath with every move Bryant made and every shot he took.

Bryant also had his struggles — he missed 10 of 12 shots and finished with six points — but that doesn’t matter. His season and his glorious career will end April 13 and he is sure of his place in NBA history. The Clippers’ second season will begin in less than two weeks, and they’re still trying to amend their largely dismal playoff history and get past the second round. To have any chance, they’ll need Griffin to get closer to his old form so he and they can go into the playoffs with some rhythm and flow.

“I’ve got to find it somewhere. It will come,” Griffin said. “I’ve just got to be patient.”

Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen