Youth Receives a Commitment

On one hand, the Clippers have a lot of promising players. On the other, they’ve got a lot of young ones.

With an average of 2.9 years’ experience per player, they rank third behind Boston (2.3) and Cleveland (2.86).

“We’ve got a bunch of young kids,” Coach Bill Fitch says. “We’re going to play ‘em. We’re getting better. Our win-loss record isn’t getting better but we’re getting better. You know we push [opponents] every ball game, no matter who we’re playing, good or bad.”

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The Clippers have been one of the busiest teams--through Saturday when they played their 30th game, only Washington had played as many--and the schedule isn’t getting easier. Of their 16 games in January, 10 will be on the road and one will be in Anaheim.

With a five-day break in the schedule before Friday’s game at Golden State, Fitch gave them Monday off.

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Lamond Murray, who hurt his right wrist at Boston and sat out games against the Chicago Bulls and Lakers, played six minutes Saturday against Denver “because we just needed a body,” Fitch said.

Murray, a 41.7% shooter for his three-year career, is at 49.8% this season, 24th in the NBA going into Monday’s games.