Clippers offense suffers without Jamal Crawford and J.J. Redick

With Jamal Crawford out again because of a strained left calf and J.J. Redick still out because of a bulging disk in his lower back, the Clippers are missing a big part of their offense.

Crawford is the reserve shooting guard who became the starter when Redick went down. Redick is the starting shooting guard when he’s healthy.

Together, they average a combined 34.4 points per game for the Clippers.

Crawford, considered one of the leading candidates for the NBA’s sixth-man-of-the-year award, is second on the team in scoring, averaging 18.7 points.

Redick is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 15.7 points. He is shooting 45.9% from the field, 39.6% from three-point range and 91.4% from the free-throw line.

“I think missing him [Crawford] and J.J. [is big],” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s funny. We’re still scoring points, but you feel like scoring is much harder. And I really feel like down the stretch of games, scoring becomes really hard for us because [opponents] are taking stuff away because they know guys aren’t there. So, it’s not something I want to get used to.”

Crawford now has been out four out of the last five games with this injury, this time sitting out the Phoenix Suns game Monday night at Staples Center.

He had sat out three consecutive games after he was first injured Feb. 29 against the Houston Rockets.

Crawford returned for the Atlanta Hawks game Saturday night, but played in the first half before he shut it down.

“I think I’ll be out three to seven days,” Crawford said.

Rivers wasn’t so sure when Crawford would return.

“I don’t know when he’s coming back,” Rivers said. “I didn’t think he looked good the other night just running. He wasn’t running natural so at halftime [of the Hawks game] we said, ‘That’s good. Let’s wait until he’s back to playing 100%.’ ”

Redick has sat out the last 14 consecutive games. Injuries have limited Redick to only 30 games.

He has been doing some shooting, but there remains no timetable for his return.

“He is feeling better, which is a good sign,” Rivers said. “I don’t want to get everybody up or down. But he’s feeling a lot better.”

Redick has gone on a few trips with the Clippers and has increased some of his activities.

“But again, there’s no return date,” Rivers said.

Jared Dudley is out again

Clippers reserve small forward Jared Dudley sat out his third straight game because of back spasms.

“He’s close,” Rivers said. “He told me he was close. I don’t know what that means, but he said he was really close. We’ll see.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner