Treading water is growing old for the underachieving, Warriors-chasing Clippers

Doc Rivers huddled with his assistant coaches in a hallway outside the Clippers’ locker room late Wednesday night, talking softly about what they had just witnessed. Theirs was a team ailing far beyond the sprained right ankle and inflamed rib cartilage that had sidelined their regular starting backcourt.

Their defense was shoddy. Their inert offense could be described as standing-room only. Most troubling, they seemed to lack the kind of resolve their eight newcomers were supposed to provide in moments when mainstays such as Chris Paul and J.J. Redick are sidelined because of injuries.

Nearly a quarter of the way into their season, the remade Clippers may no longer need introductions but remain stuck in the sometimes awkward phase of getting to know each other.

“We’re at a point in the season where all the ‘new’ guys, all that stuff is out the window,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said after Wednesday’s 103-91 loss to the Indiana Pacers. “I don’t think we’ve really been saying that and I don’t think we feel that way at all. We’re just a team now and we’ve got to be better.”

Griffin included himself in the needs-improvement department, a crowded place for a team barely above .500 at 10-9. Griffin has been the one constant as a dependable contributor, with the exceptions of being ejected in the first half of a game against Phoenix and his clunker against the Pacers, in which he made six of 18 shots and had the same number of turnovers as rebounds: four.

DeAndre Jordan, a player that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said could be “Shaq-like” during his recruitment of the prized free agent last summer, has resembled the legendary center only in his antics as a funnyman. Jordan’s rebounding and free-throwing shooting percentage are down from last season and his offense has been as spotty as a Dalmatian, the low point coming Wednesday during a two-point performance in which he missed all four of his shots.

“Without CP, without J.J., with no ball movement,” Rivers said, “I think DJ is one of the guys it affects the most.”

Paul and Redick each have sat out a handful of games because of injuries, depriving them of their usual rhythm. And the starting small forward spot has been a revolving door filled by Lance Stephenson, Paul Pierce, Wesley Johnson and Luc Mbah a Moute, leading to a lack of continuity among both starters and reserves.

Rivers blamed himself for his team’s poor offensive rhythm against the Pacers, saying he needed to help create improved spacing and ball movement.

“What we were running was very stagnant,” Rivers said, “and so I have to do a better job, more than the guards in this game, in my opinion.”

Rivers’ work over the summer as the Clippers’ de facto general manager was universally praised but has not resulted in the fast start desired by a team that already trails the undefeated Golden State Warriors by 9 1/2 games in the Western Conference.

Pierce, a former NBA Finals most valuable player who recently turned 38, has looked his age and then some, his production at career-low levels across the board. Forward Josh Smith appears to have lost a step from the springy defender of a few years ago and Johnson has resumed his habit of fading in and out of games, something Lakers fans know well from his two seasons down the Staples Center hallway.

It’s not all bad for a team that has won four of its last six games. Stephenson and Mbah a Moute have shown some recent upside, Stephenson as a dynamic playmaker and Mbah a Moute as a gritty defender.

But Stephenson’s uptick has coincided with a steep downturn for shooting guard Jamal Crawford. The super sub went scoreless for the first time in his four seasons as a Clipper on Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves and followed it up by making five of 16 shots, one of eight from three-point range, against the Pacers.

Backup point guard Austin Rivers seems more intent on scoring than facilitating, reflected in his career-high 8.3 points a game accompanied by a career-low 1.1 assists.

There’s no denying the bench has been more productive than last season’s version both in minutes and efficiency. The reserves have outscored their counterparts 13 times in 19 games after doing so only 29 times all last season.

Doc Rivers’ willingness to go five or six deep off his bench also has resulted in reduced minutes for Griffin, Paul and Jordan compared to last season. As of last week, no Clipper ranked in the top 30 in the league in minutes per game.

Some things are trending in the right direction but not enough for a team that seems to feature only one or two players coming through in a given game.

“We’ve just got to be better,” Griffin said. “Everybody knows their role and we have to take care of what we have to take care of.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch