Richardson Has Valuable Role

Shooting guard Eric Piatkowski couldn’t play Sunday against the Indiana Pacers because of a strained right hip flexor, forcing Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry to search for a replacement.

No way was Gentry going to give Quentin Richardson a start. Gentry believes that Richardson is simply too valuable as a reserve, so Corey Maggette replaced Piatkowski. Richardson scored 21 points in 31 minutes to lead the Clippers to a 103-72 rout of the Pacers before 16,737 fans at Staples Center.

Richardson made his first three three-point attempts, giving him 11 in a row. That broke the franchise record of nine held by Rodney Rogers.

Richardson’s streak began with four in a row in the fourth quarter of the Clippers’ victory Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was four for four en route to matching his career best with 26 points in Friday’s loss to the Nuggets at Denver.

“As far as hitting that many threes in a row, no, I’ve never done anything like that before,” he said. Of continuing to play in a reserve role, he said, “Coach has got a hard time. He’s got to find playing time for a lot of different people. He’s got a tough rotation.”

Despite coming off the bench all season, Richardson is the team’s second-leading scorer with an average of 14.6 points.

“I still like Quentin off the bench,” Gentry said. “I like our second unit. We’re going to continue with the same rotation. They’ve been very good. For us, it’s important to keep the rotation the same. That’s why we’re going to stick Corey in there [until Piatkowski returns].”

Piatkowski was uncertain when he might play again. He was injured during Saturday’s practice.

“I thought it would be better to take tonight off rather than hurt it some more,” he said.

“In the past, when I’ve hurt it, I kept playing and ended up hurting it more and being out a longer time.”