Griffin 'moving on' after dropping 44 points on Clippers

Blake Griffin dropped 44 points on Saturday during his first matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers since his former traded him to the Detroit Pistons, and the forward said he's moving on.

"It was nice to get that game over with," Griffin said postgame, according to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz. "I kind of compare it to the first game of the year in a way. There's such a big hype leading up to it, and then once it's done, you have to play 81 more. Now we have to play 41 more or whatever it is. It's over and I'm moving on, they're moving on."

The Clippers unexpectedly traded Griffin in January 2018 to the Pistons, just six months after he signed a five-year deal with Los Angeles as a free agent.

Earlier on Saturday, Griffin was seen snubbing Clippers owner Steve Ballmer when he approached for a handshake. The veteran downplayed the missed connection.

To go along with his 44-point showcase against his former team, Griffin left Los Angeles with a win, as Detroit beat the Clippers 109-104.

During the matchup, the Clippers played a video tribute for Griffin. He made five All-Star appearances with the franchise and led his team to six consecutive playoff appearances. The Clippers drafted Griffin with the first overall pick in 2009.

"Blake, individually, is the one who started it all," Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said, according to Arnovitz. "He's the dunk contest winner. He wore a Clipper jersey. People understood. And now when you hear our name, you don't think of those bad Clippers before Blake.

"So for me, Blake is the one who started that, so any success we had, in my opinion, from this point forward, is due to Blake, (DeAndre Jordan) and Chris (Paul) - and in that order."

Griffin and the Pistons sit ninth in the Eastern Conference with an 18-23 record. The Clippers are sixth in the West at 24-18.