Dunleavy Urges Patience for Little-Used Wilcox

Chris Wilcox sat out the Clippers’ 106-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, sound physically and willing mentally but never called off the bench by Coach Mike Dunleavy.

Sidelined most of last month because of a stress reaction in his lower right leg, Wilcox has not played in five of the six games since he was activated from the injured list more than two weeks ago, playing four minutes in the other.

Most of the minutes at center and power forward have been split during that time among Elton Brand, Chris Kaman and Zeljko Rebraca.

“I’ve talked to him about it,” Dunleavy said. “He’s coming back from a long injury, and we’re playing very well as a team. We’ve got three guys in Brand, Z and Kaman playing in front of you, playing pretty good. It’s not fair for me to break up their minutes and their rhythm to put you in there.”

The coach said Wilcox eventually would get his chance.

“Chris is going to be a terrific player,” said Dunleavy, who had cut the player’s minutes before the injury, citing faulty defense and rebounding. “We’ve talked about the things he’s got to work on and continue to do. Just right now, he’s got to get out and work and get his game back so he’s ready when he gets called.”

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Dunleavy said he was encouraged that rookie Shaun Livingston showed no tentativeness Saturday in his first practice since suffering a dislocated right kneecap in November. “That’s one thing I was looking for, but I thought he looked pretty explosive and played hard.” ... Marko Jaric suffered a bruised left knee Sunday, saying later that he might have taken himself out of the game if the Clippers hadn’t already been short-handed with Livingston, Corey Maggette and Kerry Kittles sidelined. ... Maggette said he probably would return within a week.