Blake Griffin to have surgery, Clippers may struggle to make playoffs

The Clippers are currently in the 6th seed slot out West and just a half game ahead of the defending champs San Antonio.  The hyper competitive Western Conference is going to leave at least one very good team on the outside looking in when the playoffs get started.

All of that is the backdrop to some bad news that the Clippers got today.

Blake Griffin out indefinitely with right elbow injury - SBNation.com

Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers will undergo surgery Feb. 9 on his right elbow and is out indefinitely, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. The star power forward developed a staph infection in the right elbow he has had drained previously. There is no set timetable for Griffin's return to the court because of the severity of the procedure, but if all goes well, Griffin is projected to miss four to six weeks, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. He will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.

Obviously nobody is happy to see a player get hurt.  I wish Blake a speedy recovery and the best of health.

With that said, it is hard not feel a little excited by the prospect of the Clippers slipping in the standings, and possibly right on out of the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Boston is sitting on the Clippers pick. Not sure who is giddier right now -- Ainge or @BillSimmons. Probably Simmons.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) February 8, 2015

There's now an outside chance that the Celtics could make the playoffs and the Clippers would not.  Or there's also a chance that both teams would miss the playoffs and the Celtics would suddenly have 2 lottery picks in this year's draft.

There's still a lot of time left in the season and the Clippers could be active at the trade deadline, which could change things as well.  But this is certainly a developing situation to keep an eye on.