Griffin suffers left ankle sprain
Blake Griffin suffered a mild left ankle sprain and a sore left knee after Nets forward Kris Humphries barreled into the Clippers AllStar power forward with 2:53 left.
Griffin went after a defensive rebound when Humphries tried to chase down the ball but instead took out Griffin near the Clippers’ bench.
Griffin went down hard on the court. Mo Williams took exception and pushed Humphries, earning a technical foul in the process.
“I had a rebound and I guess he wanted to dive after it and took my legs out, rolled my ankle and rolled my knee,” said Griffin, who finished with 28 points and 17 rebounds. “The knee is good, but the ankle might be a little bit swollen, But it won’t be anything that holds me back. I’ll get some treatment on it tomorrow and be ready to go.”
The Clippers play the Spurs in San Antonio on Friday, the last of a six-game, 10day trip.
“I’m playing in that game,” Griffin said. “I will be fine.” Foye hits season high with 24 points
In front of about 300 family members and friends from his Newark hometown, Randy Foye scored a season-high 24 points on eight for-18 shooting, five for 10 on three-pointers.
Foye had nine points in the fourth quarter, including a three-point play that tied the score at 98-98 with 38.2 seconds left.
“When I’ve got the shots, I knock them down,” said Foye, who attended Newark East Side High. “But it don’t matter. It still tied it up and we still lost the game. That was a tough one to swallow.” Simmons likely to extend his stay
The Clippers plan on signing Bobby Simmons to a second 10-day contract sometime before they play the Spurs.
Simmons has been impressive since he signed his first 10-day deal Feb. 27, as the backup small forward behind Caron Butler.
“I think Bobby has done a really good job for us,” Coach Vinny Del Negro said. “He’s been very professional. He’s done everything that we’ve asked. It’s not surprising. He’s a quality person, quality player. We’re just fortunate to have him.”
Simmons played in his sixth game with the Clippers since he was signed from Reno of the NBA’S Development League. He is averaging 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in almost 18 minutes.
When Simmons’ second 10-day contract ends, the Clippers will have to sign him for the rest of the season or release him.
“Words don’t even explain it,” Simmons said. “This is a great opportunity to play basketball again at this level.”
Simmons, who played two seasons with the Clippers (2003-05), appeared in just two games last season. He was with Reno for the rest of the season.
Simmons waited for the lockout to end before returning to the Development League, playing in 21 games this season for Reno.