With Clippers’ J.J. Redick injured, Willie Green and others step up

ATLANTA — It won’t be easy for the Clippers to make up for the absence of shooting guard J.J. Redick, but Coach Doc Rivers believes that the next man up has to do his job.

Redick is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks with a broken bone in his right hand and torn ligaments on the side of his right wrist.

In Redick’s place, Willie Green started Sunday against the Indiana Pacers and probably will start against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

But sixth-man Jamal Crawford got the bulk of the minutes at shooting guard against Indiana, playing almost 33 minutes and scoring a team-high 20 points in the Clippers’ 105-100 loss to the Pacers.

Crawford is third on the team in scoring (16 points per game) and sixth in minutes played (26.9 per game).

“I have to be more aggressive,” Crawford said after Sunday’s game. “And when I say that, it’s not always just taking shots. If shots can free up other guys, get attention away from other guys so they can get a clean look, then that’s what it has to be.”

Rivers said he may even use rookie Reggie Bullock at the shooting guard position during the Clippers’ seven-game, 11-day trip.

It will be hard for Crawford, Green or Bullock to simulate the way Redick constantly runs off screens, but Rivers said he’ll use his trio in other ways.

Redick was fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game, and he was making 46% of his shots and 35.9% of his three-pointers.

“We’ll play all kind of combinations” to make up for Redick’s offense, Rivers said. “We just have to find another way.”

Green again

Green returns to a familiar role he played last season with the Clippers.

He has gone from the fifth guard to the replacement starter Sunday because of Redick’s injury.

Last season, Green started 60 games for the Clippers when Chauncey Billups was out with various injuries.

However, this season Green has played in just six games and is averaging 11.1 minutes and 1.8 points.

“I can’t sit here and say that ‘oh, it’s easy. It’s nothing,’” Green said. “No, it’s a challenge. But the true test of the character develops going through challenges. My saying is you’re either getting ready to go into a storm, you are in a storm or you just came out of one.

“Anybody can take that and apply it to their lives. But with basketball, obviously our lives are not on the line. But it’s still a challenge when you have to deal with different circumstances. But I’m ready to step up and help our team win.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner