Dunleavy Says Wilcox Will Have to Earn Time

If Chris Wilcox hopes to become a part of the rotation again, Coach Mike Dunleavy said, he’ll have to make it happen on his own.

“He’ll earn his way back in,” Dunleavy said before Sunday night’s game against Atlanta. “That’s the way this business is.... .

“If you want to play [but] you’ve got a couple guys in front of you playing better than you, you’ve got to beat them out in practice

Asked what Wilcox needed to do better, he said, “It’s across the board.”

Wilcox said last week that if the Clippers weren’t going to play him he’d prefer to be traded.

But when Thursday’s trade deadline passed, he was still a Clipper.

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On Oscar night, Dunleavy called himself a movie buff, but said he hadn’t seen any of this year’s nominated films. “I love movies,” he said. “It’s just that during the season I’m in jail.”

Glancing at his laptop, which he uses to break down game tapes, he added, “I’ve only got one movie I watch.”

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TONIGHT

at Utah, 6 PST, FSN West 2

Site -- Delta Center, Salt Lake City.

Radio -- KTLK (1150).

Records -- Clippers 25-31, Jazz 18-37.

Record vs. Jazz -- 1-1.

Update -- The Clippers, who have lost 18 of 20 road games since November and 30 of their last 31 games at Salt Lake City, split two December games against the Jazz when the Jazz was without injured forward Andrei Kirilenko. Now the Jazz is without Carlos Boozer, its leading scorer and rebounder, who is sidelined because of a sprained right foot.