Pistons' Griffin gets big block in first game vs. Clippers

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin had a monster block in his first game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

But the Clippers left Little Caesars Arena with a 108-95 victory Friday in Detroit.

Griffin's big play came with 1:09 remaining in the third quarter. His Pistons held a 77-72 lead at the time.

Wesley Johnson drove to the basket and sent a pass to Montrezl Harrell to get the play started. Harrell caught the ball right under the rim and looked like he would get an easy dunk.

But Griffin had other ideas. The 6-foot-10 forward jumped up and rejected Harrell. Griffin managed to regain his balance after rejecting the shot, before throwing the ball off of Harrell's legs to retain possession for the Pistons.

Griffin and Reggie Bullock led the Pistons with 19 points apiece in the loss. Griffin also had eight rebounds and six assists. Lou Williams netted a game-high 26 points for the Clippers, while Harrell put in 18 points in the win.

Griffin spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Clippers, before being traded to Detroit after 33 games this season with the franchise.

"At the end of the day, really there is one guy there that was there when I first got there," Griffin told reporters after the game. "At the start of the season we had nine new guys. Organizationally, yeah I was there for nine years, but those guys on the court, it's not quite the same."

"When it's a lot of new guys. Still, it's a team I'm familiar with, so it was a little weird. It's the first time I've ever done something like that so it's out of the way and now we're moving on."

Griffin and the Pistons travel for a 3:30 p.m. game Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena in Atlanta.