Blake Griffin is ‘very comfortable’ being go-to guy down the stretch

Blake Griffin had the ball in his hands with the Clippers up by only one point, 89-88, in the final seconds of the team’s season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.

Griffin saw Jamal Crawford in front of him, but he decided to hold onto the ball, knowing good and well that the Thunder were looking to foul.

“I’m not going to shy away from a situation like that,” Griffin said.

Griffin was fouled with 5.8 seconds left, and went on to make both of his free throws to put the Clippers up, 91-89.

Griffin acknowledged that he might not have put himself in that position a few years back.

“I don’t know, that’s a good question,” he said. “But I will now.”

Griffin has gone from shooting a career-low 52.1% from the free throw line during the 2011-12 season, to shooting 71.5% from the charity stripe last season.

He’s gained confidence in himself and his teammates have followed suit.

When Griffin made both of his free throws in such a high-pressure situation, Chris Paul was far from surprised.

“I expected nothing less,” Paul said.

Paul, who is normally a great free-throw shooter, averaging 85.7% over the last nine seasons, missed both of his free throws a few seconds before Griffin made his.

Paul, obviously, was not happy about it.

“I will be here early to shoot some tomorrow, I’ll tell you that much,” he said.

After the Clippers’ 93-90 win, Coach Doc Rivers half-joked that Paul should be upset over his misses.

“He should beat the hell out of himself,” Rivers said.

Apparently it should be short-lived fight. though.

“Having said that, I still want him on the line,” he added.