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Clippers confirm Blake Griffin will miss chance to play in Olympics

Clippers power forward Blake Griffin battles for rebounding position with Trail Blazers center Mason Plumlee in the first half of a playoff game last season.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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The Clippers confirmed that Blake Griffin would not participate in the Olympics in August in Rio de Janeiro after undergoing a procedure last week to promote healing in his partially torn left quadriceps tendon.

Griffin is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in the fall after receiving a bone marrow injection in the quad that he aggravated in Game 4 of the Clippers’ first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, sidelining him for the rest of the series.

Griffin, who played in only 39 games this season, including four in the playoffs, injured the quad on Dec. 25. He then broke his right hand in January when punching an assistant equipment manager during an altercation, which also cost him a four-game suspension.

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It’s the second time Griffin has been forced out of the Olympics because of an injury; in 2012 he underwent surgery on his left knee before the London Games.

Griffin finished the season with statistical averages very similar to his six-year career numbers: 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks.

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