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Like any toe stub, the initial pain was much worse than the lingering ache.
For the second time in the Jazz-Clippers series, a team suffered what should've been a devastating injury but was able to hang on for a win — Los Angeles taking a 2-1 series lead with an 111-106 win as Blake Griffin spent his second half icing up a bruised right toe.
Griffin's X-rays came back negative, and Clippers coach Doc Rivers said the team was waiting on a CAT scan they'd know more about on Saturday. But the encouraging X-ray results built hope that the five-time All-Star should be back on the court as the series continues — potentially a race between him and Jazz center Rudy Gobert for who comes back faster to help wrest control in the front court.
Of course the Clippers passed a Griffin-less exam on Friday night with flying colors.
"Sometimes you want it so much, I thought we were getting in our way at first," Rivers said. "I thought in the second half, even though Blake wasn't there, we hung in there."
Griffin started Game 3 much like his previous two outings in the series: firing.
He was 5 for 9 with 11 points at the start, not quite wreaking the rim-attacking havoc he enjoyed in Game 2, but still steadily working Derrick Favors and Boris Diaw with jumpers from midrange and hitting a 3-pointer as well.
But on a fast-break drive he cut back against Rodney Hood to get a finger roll. After the play, he limped, then eventually left the court during a timeout — not before slamming a hand on a chair in frustration.
"I didn't know he was hurt [at first]: I called a timeout, and I was looking for Blake, I didn't know he had left the floor," Rivers said. "I was just thinking, 'Let's get to halftime.'"
By halftime, the word was back: Griffin's injury, a bruised right toe, wasn't a long-term concern, but it would keep him out the rest of the night.
Mo Speights started the second half in Griffin's stead, and performed sufficiently as L.A. closed the gap to just two points by the end of the third quarter. With 15 points, Luc Mbah a Moute helped pick up the scoring slack as well.
But the big adjustment, Utah coach Quin Snyder said, was that Los Angeles went to more pick-and-roll plays behind Chris Paul. Utah struggled to defend him as the Clippers spread the floor.
"It opens up the floor from a spacing standpoint. It's a difficult cover. Try to give him some different looks. You just keep trying to keep competing."
Depth issues became apparent in the fourth, as the Clippers tried smaller lineups with Paul Pierce as a four. Joe Johnson was able to back down smaller defenders, either making shots out of his famous iso sets, or forcing the Clippers to collapse on him.
But in the end, Utah's own shortcomings in the front court cost the Jazz: While Johnson scored 15 points, Boris Diaw and Derrick Favors were nonfactors on offense, combining for five points. And Diaw and Favors combined to go 1 for 4 from the free-throw line at the final minute, which missed an opportunity to close the gap as Utah trailed.
Snyder didn't claw into his own team, however, citing Favors' 38 minutes in the game.
"He's battling — it's probably the kind of conditioning he's in," he said of Favors. "He's playing hard. We're asking a lot of him right now."
The Jazz might not be asking any less when Griffin returns, either.
Twitter: @kylegoon