They’ll go steady with Sam, wait for Shaun

This was supposed to be about the point guards with the great future. Then the guy with the championship past showed he’s still the man of the present.

Sam Cassell, still swaggering after 14 years in the NBA, had more points than Shaun Livingston and more assists than Chris Paul on Sunday afternoon. Once again, Cassell found a way to help the Clippers win a game.

That’s five victories in a row for the Clippers, a run that happens to coincide with the consecutive number of starts for Cassell. On a team that’s developing a knack for posting multiple players in double-digit scoring (the Clippers had six of them in their victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday), Cassell is the only guy on the team to hit for 10-plus in every game thus far. Yes, he’s even been more dependable than Mr. Dependable, Elton Brand.

Brand’s 22 points and 10 assists stood out on the Clippers’ half of the stat sheet Sunday. That’s fine with Cassell.

“I didn’t get attention my whole career,” Cassell said. “I’ve just been steady.

“I’ve been a guy who just knows how to make my team successful. Chris Paul is going to be an exciting guard. Him and Shaun, I see both of them having tremendous careers, they’ll have some battles.

“I’ve still got some battles left in me. I’m not the focal point of this team. I’m the spoon that stirs the coffee. I do whatever this team needs me to do.”

Trends come and go quickly in the NBA, and right now point guards are in fashion. The Hornets’ Paul was rookie of the year last season and Steve Nash is coming off back-to-back MVP awards. Those are the guys you see in the NBA League Pass commercials. Cassell? You see him in local restaurants.

But you also see him stick his hand in winning plays. He made sure Tim Thomas got the ball in the middle of Thomas’ flurry of four three-pointers in the second quarter Sunday. And Cassell pounded Paul down on the blocks for short jumpers in the second half. Cassell finished with 13 points and four assists. Livingston had four points and six assists. Paul had 20 points, but only three assists, less than one-third of his season average.

Cassell might be a little quick with the trigger this year (he has taken a team-high 93 shots), but Mike Dunleavy has to trust his judgment. Dunleavy brought Cassell off the bench in the opening game and has had him in the starting lineup ever since.

Cassell said his body’s feeling good enough that he might even consider coming back after his contract expires next season. He’d definitely be a reserve then. For now, he’s intent on starting.

“It’s going to be a hell of a guard to take my position,” Cassell said. “It’s that simple.”

It’s disappointing that Livingston hasn’t been able to be that great player yet. In his third season he was finally supposed to grow into that long physique and the talent that led the Clippers to draft him. He’s 21, the same age as Paul, who’s already turning into one of the elite point guards in the league.

Livingston’s shooting has always been the shakiest part of his game, and this season it’s regressed to below 40%. He plays good defense, makes surprising contributions on the boards and still knows how to find the open man. But until he can put the ball in the basket consistently, teams will keep inviting him to shoot. They’ll even use the nice stationery.

“Sometimes I feel I can get better shots than what I do get,” Livingston said, “but that’s also off my aggressiveness and off of some of the plays coach calls.

“You just try to stay more within the system. That’s the mentality I want to have and push myself. It’s not a problem. It’s not anything I’m going to struggle with this year. There’s still going to be big games for me this year. I’m definitely confident. I just want to go about it the right way. We’re winning, so that’s the most important thing.”

But they can’t keep winning down the road if they have to rely on Cassell, who turns 37 Saturday. He’s a long way from the beginning of his career, when he won championships in his first two seasons with the Houston Rockets, 1993-94 and ‘94-95.

He’s serious when he says he wants to coach, so I asked him what he’d do if he were coaching Livingston.

“I’d put pressure on him,” Cassell said. “When we lose basketball games, I’m not going to directly blame him, but he’s going to have a lot to do with it. He’s going to determine wins and losses.”

One way or another, Livingston is going to determine whether the Clippers can take the next step to championship contention. Either he develops into that special player the Clippers think he can be, or they trade him for someone who can.

That’s a lot of responsibility, but that’s what comes with being a point guard. Ask Cassell.

“If we lose, it’s my fault,” Cassell said. “I’m not supposed to let us be lackadaisical.” And he said he won’t run from reporters. “If I have a crucial turnover down the stretch and we lose the basketball game, I’m not going to go take a shower and slide out the back door.”

Point guards might get steals, but the real ones don’t make clean getaways.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande go to latimes.com/adandeblog.