Jordan Farmar adjusting to limited role with Clippers
Los Angeles Clippers point guard Jordan Farmarsaid he is still having trouble adjusting to his role of backing up Chris Paul, ESPN's Arash Markazi reports.
Farmar, 28, signed a two-year, $4.2 million contract with the Clippers in the offseason after spending last season with the Los Angeles Lakers. After averaging 10.1 points and 4.9 assists last season for the Lakers, he is averaging 4.8 points and 1.9 assists this season in a career-low 15.0 minutes per game.
He scored a season-high 15 points and added seven assists on Monday night against the Pistons, but said he is still struggling with his limited playing time.
"When you don't play a lot, yeah," Farmar said when asked about the difficulty in adjusting to playing with the Clippers. "You don't take more than two shots, and if they go in, you had a good night, and if they don't, you struggled. It's tough. There's no substitute for the game. Even if you go in [and practice] and play one-on-one or two-on-two or three-on-three. You just have to stick with it. Things happen. It's a long season."
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Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he wants Farmar to bring the same intensity level he had on Monday to every game.
"I've been on him and probably riding him harder than anybody right now because I think he has that in him," Rivers said after the game. "Forget the offense. I just thought Jordan Farmar got into the ball, picked the ball up full-court and that turned his energy on. That's what I've been on him about. I tell him, 'You're going to play 20 minutes. There's no reason to save it.' I thought he was great. His defense changed the game."
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Farmar is behind Paul, J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford in the team's backcourt rotation.
After a pair of losses last week, Los Angeles dropped from No. 7 to No. 10 in SI.com's NBA Power Rankings. The Clippers are 17-7 and in fifth place in the Western Conference, 4.5 games behind the Golden State Warriors.
- Paul Palladino
