Clippers’ Dehere Gets Boost in His Confidence : Pro basketball: He scores 21 points in 22 minutes of a 121-102 victory over Golden State.

This was supposed to be the season that Terry Dehere, the Clippers’ first-round draft pick last season, proved that he was an NBA shooting guard.

Dehere, who maintained that he shot 37.7% as a rookie last season because he didn’t get enough playing time, moved into the starting lineup after the Clippers didn’t re-sign Ron Harper.

But Dehere lost his shooting touch and his starting job after an early-season ankle injury.

He was smiling again Friday night, though, after making seven of eight shots and scoring 21 points in 22 minutes as a reserve in the Clippers’ 121-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors before an announced crowd of 8,353 at the Sports Arena.

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said he thinks the game will help Dehere’s confidence. Dehere was shooting only 38%.

“I would say--being a full-time psychiatrist--that if a guy makes 10 in a row he’s going to have a lot more confidence than if he misses 10 in a row,” Fitch said of Dehere, who made all three of his shots in the final quarter and scored 10 points.

“What I’m pleased about with Terry is that--up until he made two no-brainers there at the end, where he . . . lost the ball--he’s starting to think a little bit as a point (guard). I think eventually, Terry’s going to be a point guard.”

Drafted as a shooting guard, Dehere’s future may be at point guard.

“In high school I had (Bobby Hurley) and he was the point guard, so I never played the point,” Dehere said. “Basically, this is my first time ever really playing at the point.”

Fitch said he might change the starting lineup after the Clippers got off to a slow start in the second half of Wednesday’s 120-107 loss to the Warriors at Oakland.

“I don’t like what I’m seeing with the chemistry of those five guys,” Fitch said.

But he went with the same lineup--forwards Loy Vaught and Lamond Murray, center Tony Massenburg and guards Pooh Richardson and Malik Sealy--in Friday night’s rematch.

It was a smart move.

Vaught had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Massenburg tied his career high with 20 points. Richardson had 19 points and 11 assists and Murray added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Warrior guard Tim Hardaway, who postponed surgery to repair ligaments in his left wrist until next week, went to the locker room with 4:49 remaining in the second quarter with a bruised right hip.

Hardaway, who was hurt when he ran into an illegal pick set by Clipper center Eric Riley, returned for the second half and finished with 21 points.