Clippers Make It an Even Dozen

He opened the season as a starter and, owing mostly to a slew of injuries among his teammates, could end it as a starter too.

In between, though, Keyon Dooling fell out of the Clippers’ regular rotation and probably out of their plans. The 10th pick in the 2000 draft, the 6-foot-3 guard from Missouri is due to become a restricted free agent July 1.

The Clippers aren’t expected to bring him back. They considered moving him before the trading deadline, and they almost certainly will leave him unprotected and available to the Charlotte Bobcats in the expansion draft in June.

But Dooling remains hopeful.

“Of course, I want to be here,” he said before Wednesday night’s 102-79 loss to the Houston Rockets, the Clippers’ 12th consecutive defeat overall and seventh in a row in Staples Center, where the game drew a sellout crowd of 19,469. “But if they want to go in a different direction, that’s understandable also....

“I just want to get an opportunity to play ball. I would love for it to come in L.A., but if it doesn’t, that’s just part of the business.

“A lot of guys have moved on from here and been successful.”

Erratic at point guard, where he opened the season, Dooling has mostly been used as a shooting guard over the last month, during which time he has enjoyed perhaps the most successful stretch of his four-year NBA career.

In his last three games before Wednesday, starting alongside veteran point guard Doug Overton, he scored 20, 17 and 18 points.

Against the Rockets, he was back at the point and struggling again. He failed to score in 31 minutes, missing all six of his shots. The Clippers lost for the 20th time in 22 games, and the Rockets ended a five-game losing streak.

Cuttino Mobley and Jim Jackson each scored 21 points for the Rockets, who made 52.6% of their shots, eight of 16 from beyond the three-point arc. Yao Ming had 12 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes, and Steve Francis had 11 assists.

Corey Maggette scored 22 points to lead the Clippers.

Of his recent run of strong games, when his playing time increased because of injuries that have sidelined Marko Jaric and Quentin Richardson, Dooling said, “I think it’s definitely helped me, as far as my career’s concerned.

“It’s kind of been like an audition, letting the Clippers see what I can do and letting other teams see what I can do. Hopefully, somebody likes my game.”

If it’s not the Clippers, Dooling will confidently move on.

“I think the more I play, the more I get comfortable,” he said. “I think [the Clippers] see that. If they want to give up on me, that’s on them. I can’t control that....

“I’ve never doubted myself. I know I can play basketball.”

After next week’s season finale, he’ll pack up his Marina del Rey apartment and move his family -- wife Natosha and daughters Deneal, 3, and Gabrielle, 7 months -- into the new house they had built in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Over the next few months, he’ll try to put on weight, adding strength to help him match up better against bulkier shooting guards.

He’ll turn 24 on May 8.

As far as his future is concerned, he said, “I’m just going to let the summer take its course, try not to stress about it.”

But of course he will.

“It’s a lot of uncertainty,” he said.