Livingston back after two games

The Clippers’ worst fears abated with 1:03 left in the first quarter Tuesday night when Shaun Livingston stepped onto the court against the Milwaukee Bucks at Staples Center.

The team was so worried about the point guard’s sprained right ankle that it signed veteran Alvin Williams to a 10-day contract. His credentials? Williams happened to be staying at Clippers guard Cuttino Mobley’s home.

But Livingston returned after only a two-game absence, saying before the game that he didn’t expect the injury to bother him the rest of the season.

“It wasn’t nothing where it was going to be a couple of weeks,” Livingston said. “It just needed some time to rest.”

Livingston, who scored eight points in 21 minutes, said he was fine with his role coming off the bench, but that he also felt comfortable starting, which he has done 26 times.

“It’s a learning process,” the third-year player said of starting. “I haven’t been in a starting role like this for this many games. It’s a new experience, but it’s also an experience I need to learn and need to get used to for the future. Hopefully, it will continue to go well.”

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After taking a long look at his team’s lackluster start, Coach Mike Dunleavy said he had decided to step on the conditioning accelerator instead of easing off. Dunleavy said extra basic drill work and running could help make up for shortcomings in the Clippers’ training camp.

“When you go to training camp you’re supposed to charge to capacity,” Dunleavy said. “Somehow we got fooled by it a little bit. We missed four practices while we were over there [Russia] because of logistics and the travel. For whatever the reason, I don’t think we got it done over there.

“I’m rolling the dice right now. Here I am in the middle of a season and at times I’m working the guys harder than we ever worked last year at this time because I’m trying to see if I can get them charged back up to where to where we need to be.”

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Even though Minnesota appears to be a team in turmoil after the firing of coach Dwane Casey on Tuesday, Dunleavy said the dismissal did not make the Clippers’ attempt to catch the Timberwloves any easier.

“They either win or lose,” Dunleavy said. “If they lose it’s easier, if they win it’s not. I don’t know what it’s going to do to them. I thought they were playing pretty well. Go figure.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com