In Starring Role, Clippers’ Robinson Is All Hollywood

He was born James Robinson, but the only name he answers to is Hollywood.

Unless it’s Bill Fitch. The coach of the Clippers can call Robinson anything he wants, so long as he calls.

And finally, after a long, frustrating season of waiting, Robinson is getting the call at last.

With shooting guard Eric Piatkowski on the injured list because of a strained abdominal muscle, Robinson got a season-high 42 minutes Sunday night at the Sports Arena and made the most of it.

He scored 24 points, making nine of 16 shots, and added eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in a rare rout for the Clippers, who whipped the Dallas Mavericks, 108-86, to end a losing streak at five games in front of a crowd of 7,461.

Also enjoying a big night for the Clippers was forward Lamond Murray, who had 27 points (11 for 18) while spending much of the night defending Dallas’ sharp-shooting guard, Michael Finley.

With Piatkowski sidelined the last two games, Robinson, in his fifth season overall and his first with the Clippers, logged a total of 83 minutes and the benefit of added playing time shows.

“When you have the minutes, you are not rushing out there,” Robinson said. “When you are a backup, you’ve got to do something instantly if you want to stay out there.

“It hurts your game, but you can’t worry about it because this is a team game. We can’t all be big shots. There have got to be some role players.”

Fitch concedes that Robinson’s role as the shooting guard is a difficult one because, at 6 feet 2, he almost always finds himself guarding a much taller man.

“He’s playing bigger people, but he’s playing them like they are not that big,” Fitch said. “Nobody has ever questioned his ability to put the ball in the hole, but I think, if he makes better decisions going to the hole, he can be a different kind of two [shooting guard].”

By that, Fitch means he might experiment by putting Robinson and Piatkowski on the floor at the same time when Piatkowski returns, letting Robinson handle the ball as the point guard.

These are the days for such experiments. Even though the Clippers won, at 16-55, they aren’t going anywhere except to the lottery. So Fitch might as well shuffle the deck and see if he can come up with some new hands.

Fitch was in the unusual position of being able to try some new combinations on the floor in a game in which the Clippers led by as many as 23 in the team’s third victory in four meetings this season against the Mavericks, who fell to 18-54. Late in the third quarter, Fitch took forward Rodney Rogers out, even though Rogers had a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with 10 points, and then let Rogers rest for the remainder of the game because the Clippers were so far ahead.

“It’s a pleasure to not have to put you back in,” Fitch told Rogers.

And when was the last time he could say that?

One Clipper who wasn’t in there much at all was forward-center Lorenzen Wright, who played only 14 minutes and scored only two points.

The only dependable scorer for Dallas on Sunday night was Finley, who wound up with a team-high 24 points, making 10 of 16 from the floor.

And that was with Murray in Finley’s face all night.

“When you are challenged defensively as well as offensively,” Fitch said, “the offense takes care of itself.”

After a night of chasing Finley around, Murray praised his various skills.

“He can do it all,” Murray said. “He can bring it up the floor, he can penetrate, he can shoot the three. He’s a very good player and you don’t want to be embarrassed.”

Murray and the Clippers were not embarrassed Sunday night.

For a change.