Rowan Kavner
LAS VEGAS – The reigning Sixth Man of the Year can be just as productive when he’s one of the starting five.
Head coach Doc Rivers gave J.J. Redick the night off Saturday, leaving Jamal Crawford as the starting shooting guard. Crawford answered with his second-straight game with at least 20 points, going 4-of-7 from three-point range and scoring 23 points against the Nuggets.
That performance came one night after he put up 25 points in 25 minutes on 8-of-13 shooting against the Jazz. Crawford said he worked a lot on catching and shooting this summer, and it’s paid off in recent games.
Clippers vs. Denverat Mandalay Bay
But while he’s pleased with his shot, he’s not feeling satisfied with only a high point total.
“It’s a good thing,” Crawford said of his shot. “But I want to work on other things; being in the right place on defense, getting my legs underneath me, getting rid of these nagging injuries, couple nagging injuries I have, getting rid of those. I’ll be fine.”
Crawford’s averaging 21.3 points per game in the preseason, trailing only Blake Griffin’s 21.6 points per game for the most on the Clippers. His 56.3 field goal percentage leads the team, and he’s shooting over 60 percent from three-point range in the preseason.
Most of those points came in his normal role off the bench, but he switched that up as part of the starting lineup Saturday. He said there’s not much to gain from the different role, but it clearly didn’t bother him.
“It’s definitely different,” Crawford said. “I think you have more time to pick your spots. You’re out there a lot of minutes, so you’re able to pick things and not force the action as much.”
Despite the impressive stat line, Crawford’s more concerned with working on the other parts of his game than boasting about his field goal percentage. Crawford said the Nuggets, who shot 45.8 percent from the floor, make it tough with how their guards can penetrate.
“They have some quick guards obviously with (Randy) Foye and (Ty) Lawson,” Crawford said. “But we just have to continue to work on team defense.”