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Clippers' Griffin won't play Wednesday after 16th technical, Redick to sit as well

Kelvin Kuo / USA TODAY Sports

Blake Griffin picked up his 16th technical foul of the season on Tuesday night, and with it comes an automatic one-game suspension.

The initial thought was that the league could rescind the technical, which they occasionally do after review, freeing him up to play in Wednesday's season finale, when the Clippers will try to earn the second seed in the Western Conference.

However, Griffin will not even travel with the team, so even in the event the league rescinds the technical foul, he won't be playing. Should the league rescind it, it simply means Griffin will be paid while he stays in Los Angeles rather than sitting the game out unpaid.

"The worst case is he's suspended one game, I'm not going to bring him anyway," head coach Doc Rivers said. "They'll probably rescind that. I'd be surprised but you never know. I want Blake to stay home and get some rest. He's so banged up."

Rivers also revealed that J.J. Redick, who recently returned from a bulging disc in his back, will also sit out Wednesday's game against Portland for rest. Point guard Chris Paul will make the trip but may see limited minutes.

"We're going to play tomorrow," Rivers said. "I just don't know who we're going to play as far as our guys but we'll be ready to play."

The Clippers earned their franchise-record 57th win of the season on Tuesday but need to win on Wednesday and see Oklahoma City lose to jump them for second in the conference. That would mean avoiding Golden State in round one and home-court advantage should the Thunder and Clippers both advance to the second round.

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