Kaman continues to make big strides

Chris Kaman is quickly becoming one of the league’s top centers.

His 22-point, 22-rebound effort in the Clippers’ 101-95 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday gave him 11 double-doubles through 15 games. And Kaman is hustling all over the court, seemingly grabbing every loose ball in sight.

Last season he picked up only 14 double-doubles in 75 games.

Still, Kaman, in his fifth season, is still learning the officiating nuances.

“What frustrates me is the inconsistency with some of the officiating, but it’s been pretty good this season for the most part,” he said.

“It’s tough to understand on the perimeter, a little touch foul is a foul and you get slammed in the post and you don’t call anything. It’s a double negative almost, you are calling that a touch foul, but you aren’t calling the other one.”

Kaman said he adjusts on a game-by-game basis and sometimes it’s tough to figure out which way a game will be called.

“Sometimes, it’ll be difficult,” he said. “One night, it will be real physical and one night it will be real soft. And you don’t know what to do right away. It takes some time to adjust. I can’t really complain too much, though. It’s been pretty good.”

Veteran Aaron Williams has risen to become the first big man off the bench.

Williams, who made a start against the Houston Rockets this season, had an efficient game Sunday.

But not the kind that shows up in the box score.

He made his only two field-goal tries and grabbed one rebound in 12 minutes.

But he also had two steals, made a nifty pass inside to Kaman and played well defensively.

“He’s been solid,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “He’s come into our rotation, and he’s helped us. He’s been good defensively, chipped in offensively, made plays.

“He was in that group that brought us back in the second quarter.”

Dunleavy said there hasn’t been a recurring theme during the team’s five-game losing streak, only that a lot has not gone the Clippers’ way.

“We’ve had a couple games where some of them is the opponent or injury level, maybe,” he said. “Or some of them we’ve missed shots or some of them we’ve turned the ball over too much.

“The biggest key night in and night out for us is going to be turnovers and shot selection. No matter who we have on the floor, we have the chance to be pretty good defensively as long as we are not putting them in a bad way, meaning you give the other team advantage numbers because you’ve taken a bad shot and turned the ball over.”

“When we play those kinds of games, we are at risk.”

Sam Cassell, who scored 35 points in the Clippers’ first game against the Pacers, sat out his second consecutive game because of a strained left calf.

Cuttino Mobley suffered the same injury during training camp, and it limited most of his playing time in exhibition games.

“I don’t think Sam will be ready for another three or four games,” Dunleavy said. “A pulled calf muscle typically is a 10-day to two-week injury.

“That’s why every opportunity I have to not have him on the floor, I pull him. Take him off, sit him down because [he’s] 38. You just don’t know. Something could happen.”

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com

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Stepping up

Where Chris Kaman ranks in three NBA categories:

*--* Category Rank No. Avg. Rebounds 3rd 189 13.5 Blocked shots 4th 35 2.50 Scoring T36th 258 18.4 *--*