Clippers’ C.J. Wilcox enjoyed his spotlight moment against Warriors but isn’t counting on an encore

C.J. Wilcox woke up Sunday with the NBA’s second-highest net rating, an advanced statistic that measures how a team fares both offensively and defensively with a player on the court.

It was largely a function of the Clippers’ crazy comeback Saturday, when their reserves nearly wiped out a 13-point deficit in the final minute of a 115-112 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Playing time in non-blowout situations remains elusive for the second-year shooting guard. Even he readily acknowledges as much.

“I wouldn’t say I have much of a role,” Wilcox said after scoring six points in four minutes before his bid to send the game into overtime, a double-pump 25-footer, came up short in the final seconds.

Wilcox has appeared in 15 games in the Development League this season, five more than he has in the NBA. He’s averaged 1.4 points in 3.7 minutes per game with the Clippers.

The Clippers’ belief in the 25-year-old who was the 28th overall pick in the 2014 draft became a bit clearer this week when they declined to make a couple of trades that would have involved him.

“I think he can shoot. I think he can play,” Coach Doc Rivers said of Wilcox, who has made two of five three-point attempts with the Clippers. “He has a lot of guys in front of him. They are pretty good guys in front of him. But I still think he can really play and I think he’s a great kid, he’s a high-character kid, works hard at it and I think that’s a kid that you hang onto.”

Rivers has had mixed success with players his teams have drafted in the first round outside of the lottery.

Wilcox and Reggie Bullock (25th pick by the Clippers, 2013) are fringe NBA players, but four players drafted by Boston when Rivers coached there — Charlotte’s Al Jefferson (15th pick, 2004), Memphis’ Tony Allen (25th pick, 2004) and the Celtics’ Jared Sullinger (21st pick, 2012) and Avery Bradley (19th pick, 2010) — became starters for their respective teams.

Rivers was also involved in the selection by the Celtics of Gerald Green (18th pick, 2005), now a solid rotation player for Miami. But there have also been a handful of Boston-drafted busts, including MarShon Brooks (25th pick, 2011), J.R. Giddens (30th pick, 2008) and Delonte West (24th pick, 2004), who are all out of the NBA.

Wilcox has experienced an uptick in playing time in recent weeks. He has appeared in nine of the Clippers’ last 17 games, though he’s never played more than nine minutes in any game.

“I just try to stay positive and try to just keep getting better every day,” Wilcox said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Let’s try that again

Rivers took part of the blame for Jeff Green’s underwhelming debut as a Clipper in which the forward’s three turnovers and inability to stay in front of his man on defense were more memorable than his five points, two rebounds and one assist.

“He didn’t know what to do and we really didn’t know what to do with him,” Rivers said. “He’s such a great passer, and I thought we put him in the pole spot to be a scorer, which I thought was not great offense from us.”

Rivers also lamented the way he had used Green in their 1 1/2 seasons together in Boston.

“I didn’t give him the open floor enough and I thought we could have taken advantage of that,” Rivers said. “He played in the Princeton offense at Georgetown and he was the hub of their passing and I don’t know if he’s been used that way since he’s been in the NBA and I plan on using him that way.”

CLIPPERS NEXT UP

VS. PHOENIX SUNS

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Staples Center.

On the air: TV: Prime; Radio: 980, 1330.

Records: Suns 14-42, Clippers 36-19.

Record vs. Suns: 1-1.

Update: Phoenix doesn’t have the NBA’s worst record, but nobody is playing worse than the Suns, who have lost 11 consecutive games and 26 of 28. Firing coach Jeff Hornacek and trading Markieff Morris haven’t made any difference, as the Suns have gone 0-7 under interim coach Earl Watson. The only upside is plenty of playing time for Phoenix’s young players. Center Alex Len scored a career-high 23 points and snagged 13 rebounds Sunday during a 118-111 loss to San Antonio.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch