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Clippers rookie Jerome Robinson hopes to provide a spark again against Warriors

Clippers guard Jerome Robinson elevates for a dunk against the Warriors during the second quarter of Game 4.
(Yong Teck Lim / Getty Images)
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Jerome Robinson earned the trust of his Clippers teammates and coaches in 11 minutes Sunday.

The rookie shooting guard entered Game 4 against the Golden State Warriors as a substitute and proved his worth, scoring seven points in rapid succession early in the second quarter, showing he was ready for the moment against the back-to-back NBA champions.

“Anytime you get in you want to prove yourself and show that you can play no matter who is kind of in front of you,” Robinson said before practice Tuesday. “So I have that same mindset going in.”

Robinson started his surge with a 27-foot three-pointer to pull the Clippers to within 35-31. He made two free throws and scored on dunk to tie the score 35-35, forcing the Warriors to call a timeout.

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It was a big contribution by Robinson, who’d had just three points in 15 minutes in the first three games of the series.

“He was ready,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I think we had a great practice the day before, where we put him in a lot of situations and he was in the right place at the right time, too, let’s just be honest there.

“But you still have to do something if you’re in the right place at the right time, and there’s a lot of people in the right place at the right time that don’t do anything. And Jerome did something and that was good for us.”

Robinson doesn’t know what his role will be in Game 5 on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena with the Clippers facing elimination. He just knows he’ll be ready if called upon.

As he prepared for practice Tuesday, Robinson got some advice from Hall of Famer Jerry West, a Clippers consultant.

“It’s dope to have ‘The Logo’ just come and mess with you and joke around and even just dropping gems any time of the day,” Robinson said. “It’s huge. He’s a great guy, a guy you can just talk to.”

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Green a positive for Clippers

With JaMychal Green starting at center in Game 4, Rivers said it was “the better lineup” against the Warriors.

Green started in place of 7-foot-1 Ivica Zubac, and probably will do so again in Game 5. Green’s ability to stretch the floor with his three-point shooting and to switch onto smaller players on defense was a positive for the Clippers. He had only six points, but he had a plus-nine rating while he was on the court.

“No. 1 it’s the first plus we’ve had, that that unit had a plus on the floor, so you like that,” Rivers said. “I just thought his spacing and his ability to switch on [Kevin] Durant helped us defensively, so I thought there was a lot of good things there.”

Redden interviews with Pelicans

Clippers assistant general manager Trent Redden interviewed Tuesday with the New Orleans Pelicans for their open general manager position, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who was unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The interview lasted throughout Tuesday evening but will not carry over into Wednesday. It is not yet known whether a second interview has been scheduled. Redden and new Pelicans president of basketball operations David Griffin already know one another well after working together in Cleveland. They were part of a front office that built the Cavaliers’ 2016 NBA championship team.

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Redden joined the Cavaliers as an intern and over the next 11 years rose to vice president of basketball operations. He and Griffin left the Cavaliers at the same time in June 2017. Redden joined the Clippers in August 2017. He oversees the team’s amateur scouting.

Staff writer Andrew Greif contributed to this report.

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner

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