Maggette Wants to Start

Forget all the talk about filling whatever role coaches want him to fill, and doing what they feel is right for him and the team.

Corey Maggette wants more playing time and wants back into the starting lineup.

“This is on the coach now,” he said after Friday’s practice -- after Coach Mike Dunleavy had left the El Segundo facility. “He needs to throw me in there. All this little minutes here and there ... it’s just crazy.”

Maggette, who returned earlier this month after missing 39 games because of a foot injury, implied two days ago that he was temporarily content in his role as sixth man, spelling defensive specialist Quinton Ross.

Maggette played 29 minutes and scored 25 points in Tuesday’s 120-108 loss to the New Orleans Hornets. He played 23 minutes and scored only eight points in Thursday’s 95-85 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

And so ended the contentment. “It needs to change,” he said. “I’m 100%. I’m ready to play. Simple as that.”

Dunleavy said Maggette might be inserted into the starting lineup as early as today against the Washington Wizards, particularly since Cuttino Mobley is questionable because of an ankle sprain suffered Thursday.

But the coach said this does not necessarily mean Maggette would become the starter for the remainder of the season. “We may mix and match our lineups as we go forward,” Dunleavy said.

Maggette, the Clippers’ second-leading scorer with a 17.9 average, said this is similar to what happened at the beginning of the season, when he suffered a hamstring injury in the preseason and was not reinstated as a starter until his fifth game back, when Ross was injured and couldn’t play.

“If I was already a starter, why this?” Maggette said Friday. “I haven’t been beaten off my spot. With this team if you get hurt you’re penalized. That’s just not right.”

*

TODAY

vs. Washington, 12:30 p.m., Ch. 5

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Clippers 39-28, Wizards 35-32.

Record vs. Wizards -- 1-0.

Update -- The Clippers will conclude play today against Eastern Conference opponents. They are 19-10 against the East and 20-18 against Western Conference opponents.