Report: Clippers fear Griffin might be out 2 months with hand injury

The troubles keep piling up for Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin in the wake of his fight with an assistant equipment manager.

Griffin, who suffered a fractured hand after repeatedly punching Matias Testi, is tentatively scheduled to return in four-to-six weeks, but ESPN's Zach Lowe reports that the Clippers fear Griffin's hand might actually keep him out for two months.

Lowe's report echoes cautionary words from Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, who called Griffin's original schedule to return "unrealistic."

Should Griffin miss two months, that puts him on course to return during the final two weeks of the season. The Clippers have fared just fine in Griffin's absence (13-3), but their schedule becomes extremely difficult over the next two months, and not having their leading scorer will put undue pressure and mileage on the likes of Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, and DeAndre Jordan.

Losing Griffin also likely ends the Clippers' chase for the No. 3 seed. They'll be hard-pressed to make up the Thunder's four-game lead without their best player, who's averaged 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and five assists.

A fourth-place finish for the Clippers would line up a potential meeting with the Warriors in the second round of the playoffs.

The 25-year-old Griffin should at least return in time for the playoffs in what figures to be a make-or-break year for the team as currently constructed. Rivers wondered aloud to Lowe in an interview last summer if their Jordan-Paul-Griffin core was destined for a shakeup in the wake of three straight disappointments in the playoffs.

Griffin just might hold the fate of the Clippers in his fractured hand.