Blake Griffin suffered a partially torn left quad tendon during last night’s win over the Lakers. Griffin underwent an MRI this morning that revealed the injury. 

The Clippers leading scorer did not accompany the team to Utah and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Griffin is averaging 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 30 games (all starts) this season for the Clippers.

The Los Angeles Clippers have developed a reputation during the tenure of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Doc Rivers as being disliked by their peers and fans of other teams.

"The most hated team by far," said a veteran NBA coach.

"Something about them," said a longtime team executive. "It's just an irritant."

"It just seems like we have guys that annoy people," said J.J. Redick.

"I hate 'em," DeMarcus Cousins told reporters after an opening-night loss to the Clippers. "Honestly, I do. I hate 'em."

Paul and Griffin are known as being two of the most frequent complainers to referees in the NBA.

"When I took the job here, I remember literally hearing from a couple refs: 'Oh my God,'" Rivers said. "'You're going to the team that clearly complains more than any team in the NBA by far.'"

Paul has a reputation for being a master in basketball's dark arts the way John Stockton was during his career.

"I don't play for anybody to like me," Paul said. "I'm telling you, I got enough friends, you know what I mean?"

Blake Griffin made both of his 3-point attempts on Friday, raising his season average to 40 percent on 6-for-15 shooting.

Doc Rivers said he would like Griffin to start taking more 3-pointers, but the onus is on Griffin.

"He can shoot them," Rivers said. "It's funny, he works on them. I still think at times he doesn't really want to shoot them unless we draw the play up for him to shoot it or it's late clock."

Doc Rivers has denied a report that the Los Angeles Clippers are gauging trade interest in Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson.

"That's silly talk. Nothing. No truth," said Rivers.

The Clippers acquired both Smith and Stephenson in the offseason and neither player has made as positive of an impact as expected.

Rivers serves as both top decision-maker on personnel decisions and head coach, which puts him in an awkward position when it comes to trade reports.

Paul Pierce won't decide if this will be his final NBA season until the summer.

Pierce admits he's in the worst stretch of his career.

"The older you get and the less and less you're able to do things that you could do before, you start thinking about maybe it's that time," said Pierce.

Pierce signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract last offseason with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Pierce is averaging 4.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 17.5 minutes a game while shooting 29.7 percent.

The Los Angeles Clippers have tested the trade market for interest in Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith.

Stephenson can be traded now, while Smith is not eligible for a deal until Dec. 15th.

The Clippers haven't viewed Stephenson and Smith as good fits on their team so far.

"There is not much of a market for them," one NBA executive said. "They are buyout candidates. Maybe Lance goes back to Indiana, you never know. You won't get back much for them."

Said another team's front-office executive: "They are talented, but when you add people like that it does affect the chemistry of their team. I don't think they will be traded. It's a tough thing to do because they didn't have a lot of takers beforehand."

The Clippers have also been open to trading Jamal Crawford since the offseason.

The L.A. Clippers have assigned forward Branden Dawson to the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League pursuant to the Flexible Assignment System.

Dawson, a Second-Team All-Big Ten performer in his final season at Michigan State University finished his four-year career for the Spartans as the all-time leader in blocks (142), fifth in starts (121), sixth in steals (163) and seventh in rebounds (902).

This is the second Development League assignment for Dawson, who participated in six games for Bakersfield and averaged 6.3 points, 3.8 rebounds on 41.5% shooting from the field in 17.3 minutes.

Chris Paul will miss at least the next two games after an MRI showed inflamed rib cartilage.

The injured flared up for Paul around Thanksgiving.

Paul is averaging 31.3 minutes per game this season, which is a career low.