Pistons' Blake Griffin Undergoes Surgery on Knee Injury After NBA Playoff Exit

Detroit Pistons All-Star forward Blake Griffin spent the first two games of his team's first-round Eastern Conference series against the Milwaukee Bucks on the sidelines with knee soreness, and he underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee to start his offseason on Wednesday.

According to James Edwards III of The Athletic, Griffin is not expected to miss any planned offseason training.

Prior to the operation, the veteran forward talked about having the opportunity to get healthy over the summer.

"I don't anticipate missing any time working out other than just my normal time I take off," he said, per NBA.com. "It'll be a long off-season again, like last off-season, which is a good thing for me because I'll be able to get in the gym and work and come back and be ready."

Griffin was active for Game 3 of the series, but his presence was not enough to help the Pistons avoid a sweep at the hands of the top-seeded Bucks. He averaged 24.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in two appearances.

As head coach Dwane Casey made clear after the series, per NBA.com, his effort stood out:

"Blake played his heart out with basically one leg and he gave everything he could to our team. He fought a lot of pain, swelling just so he could support his teammates. I think we were in sixth place when he started experiencing the pain and swelling but he kept with it. Kept playing until he couldn't play any more. He gave everything he could to our team. We owe him a lot as far as what he gives us, the leadership he gave to the young players."

The 30-year-old six-time All-Star dealt with the nagging knee injury down the stretch this season. On April 7, Casey commented to the Detroit News' Rod Beard that playing couldn't further injure Griffin's knee.

However, the team still opted to sideline the power forward for the final game of the regular season and the first two postseason games.  

Following Game 1, Griffin admitted to Beard that he would have played if it were up to him, which makes the situation all the more peculiar. 

When on the court, Griffin was undoubtedly the biggest difference-maker for the Pistons. In his first full season with the team, he averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists across 75 contests.