From the very beginning of Wednesday night’s game against the New York Knicks, Blake Griffin was on the attack for the Clippers.
It looked as if the confident, assault-the-rim player had truly returned to form in his seventh game back after being sidelined for more than a month because of right knee surgery.
Griffin busted the Knicks for 18 points in the first quarter, aggressively taking 11 shots and making six.
He finished off New York with a season-high 32 points, going 11 for 23 from the field, in the Clippers’ 119-115 win.
“I physically feel fine,” Griffin said after the game at Madison Square Garden. “It’s still probably some correctable things, some mistakes. I can pick and choose spots a little bit better. I can always fine-tune those things.
“But I feel good. I feel confident physically, basketball-wise, mentally, all that.”
With Chris Paul out while recovering from left thumb surgery, Griffin has taken on the role of a primary playmaker.
He also had five assists against the Knicks.
Griffin said it’s not just about his demanding the basketball, it’s also about making the right play for his teammates at the right time.
“I don’t think it’s really about getting the ball more,” Griffin said. “I think it’s just about trusting the offense. I’m figuring out different ways we can score while CP is still out, figuring out how to better serve the offense, whether that’s with the ball or without the ball.”
For the second straight time, Griffin expanded his game to the three-point line, knocking down two of three shots.
Before the game at Toronto on Monday night, Griffin said Clippers Coach Doc Rivers texted his power forward and urged him to attempt more three-pointers. Griffin made two against the Raptors.
“I shoot them all the time,” Griffin said. “So I feel like I’m ready to shoot. I kind of joked before last game. … Getting that confidence from your head coach is like, ‘All right, you’re not always going to hit your first two in how many games.’ I think it’s more about spacing the floor and if nobody rotates to you, you’ve got to take it and knock it down.”
In seven games since returning to the lineup, Griffin has averaged 24.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
He has shot 52.9% from the field, 50% (four for eight) from three-point range and 76.8% from the free-throw line.
Griffin and the Clippers, who were forced to leave New York late in the afternoon Thursday because of a snowstorm, will next play Saturday at Charlotte.
“He’s just playing aggressive,” Rivers said. “He’s trying to mix it up. He is just a great player. He does a lot of things.”
broderick.turner@latimes.com
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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