Report: Griffin risked re-tearing quad for playoffs, could now miss Olympics

It wasn't a minor deal that Blake Griffin returned to play four games in the playoffs for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Griffin was still suffering from a torn left quad, and while he worked for months to recover, there was a strong possibility he would have re-torn his tendon, according to Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding.

Having suffered the injury in December, the safest option for Griffin would have been to opt for surgery. But that would have kept him out four-to-six months, effectively sidelining him for the remainder of the season.

And so Griffin worked around it. He moved to strengthen his leg with other methods of rehab, hoping that he could help the Clippers capitalize on a golden opportunity to make a deep playoff push.

But injuries again got in the way. Chris Paul broke his hand, and Griffin did re-aggravate his quad in Game 4. That set up a third-straight loss in Game 5 on Wednesday, which has a wounded Clippers team down two stars and on the brink of yet another playoff flameout.

Should Griffin opt for surgery now, his availability for the 2016 Summer Olympics in August will likely be jeopardized.