Griffin apologizes to Clippers for punching friend, breaking bone in hand

With one ill-advised decision during a dinner outing, Blake Griffin went from nearing a return to the Los Angeles Clippers' lineup to staying on the shelf for at least another four weeks. On Tuesday night, he apologized for his actions which left him with a broken hand after punching a team equipment manager.

Griffin was expected to return to action next week from a quad injury that had kept him out since Christmas Day. Instead, the Clippers now say he faces a four-to-six week recovery from a broken right metacarpal bone in his shooting hand after punching equipment manager and friend Matias Testi outside a Toronto restaurant Saturday night.

Clippers coach and GM Doc Rivers expressed doubt Tuesday that Griffin would be ready to return in the specified timeframe.

Testi is believed to be close with Griffin and other Clippers, as various social media accounts indicate. The team and the NBA are investigating the incident, which the Toronto Police have no record of because no criminal complaint was filed.

The Clippers had been in the city to play the Raptors. Griffin and Testi were both sent back to Los Angeles from the team's current five-game road trip, which wraps Wednesday in Atlanta.