Taylor Will Play in Rookie Game

Clipper rookie forward Maurice Taylor was named Thursday to play in the NBA Rookie All-Star game on Feb. 7 in New York.

Taylor, who had 17 points, two rebounds and one assist in Wednesday night’s 109-101 loss at Toronto despite having flu, has averaged 15.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 23.1 minutes in the last eight games.

“I’m not really one to get all hyped up about individual honors,” Taylor said. “I’d rather for us to have a better record than for me to play in the rookie all-star game.

“It’s an honor to be selected and to play with some of the premier young players in the league. That whole weekend is going to be a lot of fun.

“I think everything I’m doing right now people didn’t expect. I expected a lot of myself, but I just wanted to play hard and prove myself.”

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Forward Lorenzen Wright missed his third consecutive game because of a sprained right ankle.

Wright, who sprained his ankle in Sunday’s 28-point loss at Detroit, has sat out seven of the last eight games. He missed four games because of a sprained left knee before returning against the Pistons.

“He’s not ready to play,” Coach Bill Fitch said. “He wasn’t rushed into it the first time. Everything was fine with the knee, but he sprained the ankle on the other foot, so now he’s got a bad ankle and a bad knee.”

Fitch hopes that Wright, who averaged 16.4 rebounds in eight games before spraining ligaments in his left knee at Golden State on Jan. 2, will be able to return for Monday’s game at Minnesota.