Blake Griffin Is the Key to a Successful LA Clippers Playoff Run

The Los Angeles Clippers were wrapping up their best regular season in franchise history a year ago. Since then, they've made a series of moves to show that 56 wins and a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies wasn't good enough. 

The Doc Rivers-led squad of 2013-14 is constructed to compete for an NBA title now. In order to execute this plan, they'll need Blake Griffin to improve upon his disappointing playoff performances. This postseason will be his opportunity to take his game to new heights. 

The physical talent he possesses is obvious—Griffin can do just about anything he wants to on a basketball court. When it comes electrifying a crowd and producing jaw-dropping highlights on a nightly basis, he's in league by himself. In terms of branding, few athletes have the acumen he does; he's a picture-perfect pitchman with all the charisma an advertiser would want put together in a wholesome package of skill and personality. 

It's safe to say Griffin is a star in every sense of the word, but the Clippers need him to be the same player when the games matter most. His career postseason averages of 17.4 points and 6.4 rebounds don't measure up to the 21.3 and 10.2 he's put up during the regular season. Blake's future success and ultimate status as a bona fide great player will be defined by his ability to thrive under the most meaningful circumstances and be a leader on the floor, much the way he has during the 2013-14 regular season. 

He's posted a career-best 24.3 points to go along with a player efficiency rating of 23.8 through 68 games, according to Basketball-Reference.com. He's worked on his mid-range game to the point there's a noticeable difference in his ability to score from all three levels (the corner three-pointer is a new asset) as evidenced by his shot chart this season:

NBA.com/stats

Flirting with greatness through perennial All-Star selections and solid production year after year, Griffin is still being held to a higher standard to which he has yet to measure up. Whether fair or unfair, he's the type of player who has something to prove despite being one of the best players in the game. 

That's what it takes to be considered among the best. Given the immense responsibility of acting as one of the faces of a franchise expected to do great things, the weight placed upon his shoulders is appropriately massive. 

Facing elimination and the expectations of a starved fan base, the playoffs following the 2013-14 season will give Griffin a legitimate chance to change the perception about his game and vault into elite status as a player. He currently leads the Clippers in win shares with 10.6 and a career-best .207 per game, which is indicative of the team's success being directly tied to his production. 

In the playoffs, he's averaged .097 win shares in 17 career games.  

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The sample size is relatively small, but it's clear he needs to do more. The caveat in the first-round exit from a season ago was he was playing on a sprained ankle, which affected his performance. But the 13.2 points and 5.5 rebounds on 45.3 percent shooting from the field he posted in those six games isn't going to get it done regardless of health. Zach Randolph, a throwback, below-the-rim type of player, outplayed him while displaying a diverse post game as Griffin struggled to find creative ways to score.

It's almost cliche to say Griffin lacks a refined post game of his own, but those playoffs exposed him in that regard. 

In a sense, the ankle injury highlighted glaring limitations in his game since he was without his usual explosiveness. This season, he's appeared to address those deficiencies by diversifying his game, and now's the time to see whether or not he can put it all together. 

If Blake suits up, he's got to produce because of his team's reliance on his production. Wherever he goes, the Clippers will follow. That's why they need Griffin to get better this postseason in order to evolve as a franchise.

Chris Paul alone can't take them where they want to go.