With the Los Angeles Lakers already out in the first round of the playoffs, the city of Los Angeles now rests its championship hopes on the historically hapless Clippers.

After Tuesday's 103-93 loss to the Grizzlies at home, the Clippers now have their backs up against the wall going into Fridays Game 6 matchup in Memphis. L.A. is down 3 games to 2 in the series and one more loss will see their title hopes vanish.

To make matters worse, Lob City's superstar big man Blake Griffin re-aggravated an ankle injury during the Game 5 loss on Tuesday, having to leave the game in the third quarter. He is now marked as questionable for Game 6 on Friday.

"It's just an unfortunate thing, a freak accident," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro told reporters after making the decision to remove Griffin. "As the game went on, (the injury) got worse and worse. He was struggling to move in the third a little bit and that's when I just pulled the plug."

A week ago the Clippers appeared to be cruising to an easy first round knockout of the physically tough Grizzlies squad, winning the first two games. As time has gone on, though, the Grizzlies have relied on their inside presence of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph to overpower Los Angeles. With Griffin now out, don't expect Memphis to change that strategy now.

"We're not going to lay down," Del Negro added. "We know we have to play better. We need more production from everyone."

If Griffin can't go on Friday, expect Lamar Odom to get increased playing time. Though once a promising star in the NBA, Odom has fallen on tough times. He has also never known for highly physical play, and so if the Grizzlies continue their dominance down low, the Clippers may soon be facing an early exit.
Should the clippers win on Friday night, they would come back to the Staples Center Sunday for the deciding Game 7. Tipoff times have yet to be announced for either game.