Trade Talk Won’t Distract Rice; Anderson and Skinner Sidelined

Power forward Maurice Taylor sat in front of his locker and shook his head when he began to discuss how the Clippers will have to adjust again without shooting guard Derek Anderson, who could be out two weeks because of a left ankle sprain.

Anderson, who sat out three games last month because of a mild concussion, suffered his latest injury in the fourth quarter of the Clippers’ victory over Vancouver on Monday.

“This affects our chemistry because we have to change lineups so much,” Taylor said before Tuesday’s game with the Lakers. “Any time a guy gets hurt, that’s a new guy you have to bring into the lineup. You really can’t get any cohesiveness unless you play together. . . . We already have a bunch of new guys on this team anyway, this makes it harder.”

And it didn’t get better for the Clippers during the game, when power forward Brian Skinner also sprained his left ankle and will be out two weeks as well.

Coach Chris Ford, who started Tyrone Nesby in Anderson’s spot against the Lakers, hopes the third-year guard returns sooner than anticipated.

“The kid plays hard, I love his competitiveness and aggressiveness,” Ford said about Anderson. “These are just unfortunate injuries that happen when you play this game.”

Anderson’s greatest impact for the Clippers has been his free throw shooting. He leads the team in shooting 87.1% from the line and his 101 attempts are second to Lamar Odom’s 131.

“It certainly affects the team with his loss. When he is not on the floor it hurts us because of his ability to take the ball to the basket,” Ford said. “That not only benefits him but the team as the whole because it gets us into a penalty situation where we are shooting foul shots more often. . . . What he does out on the floor will be missed.”

Elgin Baylor, vice president of basketball operations, and Ford talked Tuesday about possibly signing a free agent and putting Anderson on the injured list until he’s ready to return. Ford, however, is not sure if the Clippers will add a player such as Charles Smith, who played with the Clippers the previous two seasons before being released in training camp.

“No one has jumped out at me right now, but we will discuss it later,” Ford said. “I would be more leaning toward staying pat in hopes that [Anderson] would ready in less than two weeks.

“If we try and bring a guy in, is he going to jump and leapfrog over the guys who are already here? Probably not. Just learning the system and all that stuff. [Smith] is one of the names out here. But I really don’t know.”