Griffin ruled out for US basketball team

The United States have suffered another injury blow ahead of the Olympics with the loss of Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin, who is now expected to have knee surgery ahead of the new NBA season.

Griffin flew back to Los Angeles last night as his team-mates were beating the Dominican Republic 113-59 in their first warm-up game in Las Vegas.

The Clippers confirmed the diagnosis of a medial meniscus tear in a statement.

Clippers’ coach Vinny Del Negro said: “Missing out on the Olympic experience will be tough for him to take. I know how dedicated he was to doing that.”

New Orleans Hornets rookie Anthony Davis has now been called into a squad that has already lost Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul to injuries.

The Americans will play Brazil in Washington DC this weekend before heading to Manchester to face Great Britain on Thursday.