Jaric Could Be Out at Least Four Weeks With Fracture

The Clippers, who aren’t expecting backup point guard Shaun Livingston to be playing again before February, found out Friday that they’ll probably have to make do without starter Marko Jaric for most of the next month too.

An MRI exam revealed that Jaric, sidelined since Dec. 19, has a stress fracture in his right foot, an injury that is expected to idle him for at least four weeks.

“It’s a bad break for us, no pun intended,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said before Friday night’s game. “Marko was playing well for us. What’s mostly missed is his defense. He does a really good job of getting hands on balls and playing passing lanes. His straight-up, man-to-man defense is pretty good.”

Jaric, in his third NBA season and second as a starter, has averaged 11 points and team highs of 6.4 assists and 1.9 steals over 35.5 minutes. He is the Clippers’ top outside threat, having made 40% of his three-point shots.

But since Jaric was injured in a Dec. 20 practice, the Clippers have turned to journeyman Rick Brunson and rookie Lionel Chalmers at the point.

Brunson, 32, was brought in to act as a mentor to Livingston and Chalmers and to play spot minutes. But now he’s a starter after having started only two games since his rookie season of 1997-98 and only 12 in his career.

“I’ve been extremely happy with Rick’s play; he’s been terrific,” Dunleavy said. “I think he’s played to the best of his abilities. Everything that I could ask for, that’s what he is. But obviously the intention was not to play him 35 minutes a night. That’s probably not the role he’s designed for at this point.”

The Clippers are expected to scour the market for reinforcements.