Martin Maintains Grip as a Starter

Inserted into the starting lineup after point guard Pooh Richardson suffered an ankle injury last month, guard Darrick Martin, who had a team-high 19 points in Saturday’s 95-93 loss at Minnesota, has retained the job.

Martin, who scored a career-high 38 points and had eight assists in a 115-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Dec. 30, has averaged 12.7 points and 5.4 assists in 16 games as a starter. The Clippers are 8-8 with Martin starting.

“Darrick is the pacemaker,” Coach Bill Fitch said. “His minutes are limited unless he gets it going like he did in the Utah game. If he gets it going, I’ve told the other guys to get comfortable [on the bench].

“He’s doing about what we expected him to do when the season started. We saw him as the change-up guy.”

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Center Stanley Roberts, on the injured list since Dec. 10 because of a lower back injury, went through a full practice with the team Tuesday.

Roberts, who averaged 10.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in November, isn’t expected to be activated soon because the Clippers don’t want to rush him back and risk further injury.