There’s No Timetable for Livingston’s Return

Shaun Livingston is expected to resume his rookie season this month, though the Clippers have not yet revealed a timetable for his return.

“I think they’re going to see how it feels, see how he feels, and go with that,” Livingston’s agent, Henry Thomas, said this week. “There’s no rush. If it’s after the All-Star break, that’ll be all right ... if it’s not feeling right [before then].”

Livingston, the fourth pick in last year’s draft and the first true point guard to jump directly from high school to the NBA, has not practiced since suffering a dislocated right kneecap during a practice two days before Thanksgiving.

He has handled the downtime well, his agent said.

“He’s actually been very mature and surprisingly determined to get back,” Thomas said. “You might have thought with a player as young as he is that he would have been a little bit more emotionally devastated by it, but he really has approached it like a more mature player, I suppose.

“He’s attacked his rehab and he’s been realistic about when he could come back and all that kind of stuff. I don’t think he has any concerns that as long as he spends the time that he should spend rehabbing that he’ll be fine.”

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Marko Jaric said it: “We are not scared of this trip.”

Maybe there’s no need.

Though the Clippers have lost 10 of their last 11 road games as they embark on an eight-game trip starting tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies, they’ve mopped up on the East and against teams with losing records.

They’re 10-3 against the East, 15-6 against teams that have losing records. And starting Friday at Milwaukee, they’ll play four games in the next two weeks against Eastern Conference teams with losing records.

On a similar midseason trip a year ago, they were 3-5.

“I don’t know what the record needs to be or will be, but whatever it is we’ve just got to come out of it where we’re still in touch from the standpoint of the playoffs,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “Then we can get healthy and have a chance to put a string together and give ourselves a legitimate shot. That’s what we’re after.”

TONIGHT

at Memphis, 5 PST, Channel 5

Site -- FedEx Forum.

Radio -- KTLK (1150).

Records -- Clippers 22-23, Grizzlies 27-20.

Record vs. Grizzlies -- 0-2.

Update -- The Grizzlies are 18-5 since their 9-15 start, including a 108-97 victory Tuesday night over the Phoenix Suns and two victories in nine days over the Clippers in December. They’ve won five of their last six and nine of their last 11 overall, and they’ve lost only one of their last 11 home games.