REPORT: Clippers offered Blake Griffin, Lance Stephenson to Denver for four players

Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

With the trade deadline coming up Thursday, rumors have swirled about which players might be changing uniforms. According to a story on the thebiglead.com that cited ESPN, the Clippers recently offered up Blake Griffin and Lance Stephenson to the Denver Nuggets for forward Kenneth Faried, center Nikola Jokic, forward Danilo Gallinari and guard-forward Will Barton.

Faried, Jokic and Gallinari are starters, Barton comes off the bench.

Gallinari leads Denver in scoring with a 19.7 average, Faried leads the Nuggets in rebounding with an 8.9 average.

Doc Rivers, head coach and president of basketball operations, has denied that Griffin is on the block.

Griffin has not played since Dec. 25 against the Lakers. It was revealed the next day that Griffin had a partially torn left quad tendon. Just as he was about to get back on the court, Griffin sustained a fractured right hand when he punched team assistant equipment manager Matias Testi on Jan. 23 at a restaurant in Toronto.

Griffin was eventually suspended four games without pay and lost an additional game without pay for injuries he sustained in the altercation.

Clippers snap 3-game losing streak with 111-94 win at Denver

DeAndre Jordan

DeAndre Jordan/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

The Clippers on Tuesday night snapped their three-game losing streak with a 111-94 victory at Denver.

All five Clippers starters scored in double figures with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan leading the way with 18 points apiece. Jordan added 11 rebounds, four blocks and three assists and Griffin had 10 rebounds and four assists.

J.J. Redick scored 16, Chris Paul 15 and Wesley Johnson 11. It was Johnson’s first start of the season. Paul also had 10 assists and three steals.

Jamal Crawford scored 15 off the bench and Josh Smith scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds, doled out two assists, blocked a shot and made a steal in 18 minutes.

The Clippers (7-7), who have struggled from 3-point range this season, shot 40 percent (8 of 20).

Danilo Gallinari led Denver (6-9) with 20 points and 18 rebounds, Nikola Jokic scored 16 and Gary Harris had 14 points.

The Clippers helped hold the Nuggets to 39.7 percent shooting.

The Clippers, once again, were outrebounded – this time 48-43.

The Clippers had only seven turnovers.

J.J. Redick scores 12, Clippers lead 51-45 at halftime at Denver

J.J. Redick

J.J. Redick/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

J.J. Redick scored 12 points in the first half and the Clippers took a 51-45 lead into the halftime break at Denver.

Chris Paul contributed 10 points and five assists for the Clippers, Blake Griffin had seven points and five rebounds and Josh Smith scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds off the bench.

Wesley Johnson started at small forward and scored six points.

Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 11 points and 10 rebounds.