Blake Griffin Out vs. Trail Blazers Because of Knee Injury; Thon Maker Starts

Detroit Pistons star Blake Griffin will not play against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday because of sore left knee, the team announced.

Thon Maker will start in Griffin's place.

When the Pistons acquired Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers, his durability was a clear concern. The 2013-14 season was the last time he had appeared in at least 70 regular-season games, and he had already missed 14 games in 2017-18 with a knee sprain before joining the Pistons.

Griffin then missed Detroit's final eight games with an ankle injury. In 25 appearances for the Pistons, he averaged 19.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists.

Griffin looks re-energized in 2018-19. He had 50 points and 14 rebounds in a 133-132 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 23, and he's averaging 24.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

While Griffin's ailment does not appear severe, the Pistons need him at his best, as they sit at 38-37 and sixth place in the Eastern Conference ahead of Saturday's game. With just seven games remaining in the regular season, it's crunch time.

On its own, losing Griffin for any amount of time is bound to create big problems for Detroit since he's one of the team's best players. Even worse, Detroit sacrificed much of what depth it had left in order to add Griffin and made only marginal improvements to the roster in the offseason.