Star forward Blake Griffin missed the second half of the Los Angeles Clippers’ 111-106 Game 3 victory over the Utah Jazz after suffering a bruised right big toe late in the second quarter.

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Griffin appeared to suffer the injury with just under four minutes to go in the first half, after swiping a pass from Jazz All-Star Gordon Hayward and racing down the other end for a layup through Utah swingman Rodney Hood.

Immediately after coming down, Griffin started limping noticeably. He eventually left during a timeout on the next Clippers possession and, clearly frustrated, slam his hand down on a chair on the L.A. bench before walking gingerly back to the locker room:

The initial reports on his trip back did not invoke much confidence:

Shortly thereafter, the Clippers offered their initial diagnosis:

And, during the halftime intermission, the official word came down:

Griffin had 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting to go with six rebounds, two assists and a steal in 18 minutes of floor time before exiting. He’d averaged 25 points, six rebounds and 2.5 assists in 40.5 minutes per game through the first two games of the series, with the Clips and Jazz each landing one victory.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers said after the game that Griffin will undergo additional tests and the team will know more Saturday about his status for Sunday’s Game 4.

The injury bug bit Utah first in this series. Star center Rudy Gobert suffered a hyperextended left knee and bone bruise just 11 seconds into the first postseason game of his career, and has been ruled out for each of the two games since, though the Jazz remain optimistic for his chances of returning, given that there’s no structural damage to his left knee.

You can certainly understand why Griffin seemed so frustrated as he headed back to the locker room. The five-time All-Star has missed significant chunks of the past three seasons due to injury, and saw his 2016 postseason end midway through the first round, when he reaggravated the left quadriceps tendon injury that, along with a broken right hand suffered during a fight with a team staffer, put him on the shelf for 47 games last year. With Griffin and Chris Paul (fractured right hand) both put out of commission midway through Game 4 of last year’s first round, the Clippers lost their primary sources of offense, and wound up bowing out to the Portland Trail Blazers in six games.

That marked the fifth straight season that a Clippers team with title aspirations saw its season end before the Western Conference finals. The hope now in Clipperland is that further evaluation turns up nothing to be concerned about, and that Griffin’s able to return to the fold at or close to 100 percent to help CP3, DeAndre and the gang keep a tough Jazz team from making it six straight.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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