Clippers' J.J. Redick would love for his heel to heal

PORTLAND >> J.J. Redick sat courtside at Moda Center at the moing shootaround ahead of Monday night’s Game 4 against the Portland Trail Blazers.

“I just stayed off my feet yesterday,” the Clippers’ shooting guard told reporters.

He hasn’t been able to do much between games of late because of a bruised left heel sustained April 12 against Memphis in the second-to-last regular-season game. He had played all three games of this first-round playoff series, and was in the lineup again Monday. He is not himself, though.

“It was probably the only time all year that I’ve ever felt tired in a game,” he said, referring to his subpar Game 3 performance that saw him score just five points on 2 of 10 shooting in the Clippers’ 96-88 loss.

Redick somehow scored 17 points in each of the first two games of this series on a combined 15 of 27 shooting. But there were times in Game 3 where one could see he was favoring the heel.

Redick knows there is nothing he can really do about it for now.

“I mean, look, this is something I’m going to have to deal with as long as we’re playing in the playoffs,” he said. “It’s not going to go away.”

It might if Redick begged out of playing. Known for his toughness, Redick is not likely to do that.

“I think the easiest way to describe it is if I could have two weeks to just lay in bed, I think it would heal,” he said. “Unfortunately, I have to walk to and from things and in a basketball game it requires quite a bit of cutting, planting and stopping, and those things all aggravate it. So every time you play, it doesn’t get better.”

Fortunately for Redick, he doesn’t feel it with every step he takes.

“Sometimes you get lucky and there’s a plant that’s not on the spot,” he said.

DeAndre Jordan’s poor line

DeAndre Jordan made only 35.2 percent (12 of 34) of his free throws during the first three games. The poor free-throw-shooting Jordan has admitted in the past that sometimes it becomes psychological. Considering he shot just 43 percent this season and has shot 42.1 percent over his seven-year career, that’s understandable.

Coach Doc Rivers said at the shootaround he isn’t sure if that’s happening now.

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“I don’t know if it’s in his head or not,” he said. “But I keep saying for him, every game is individual. You’ve seen games down the stretch he’ll make four in a row, where he’s missed nine straight. I wish I had a crystal ball because I literally don’t know going into the game. One thing I do like, he’s still working on them, he’s watching film of his free throws.

“I mean, he’s doing all the preparation that a good free-throw shooter would do – actually, a good free-throw shooter wouldn’t do because you wouldn’t have to, you know, when you think about it. But he’s doing all the right stuff and for me that’s all I can ask as a coach is that he prepares and (does) the right thing.”

Jordan said this is not in the front of his mind.

“No, I mean, I’m fine. It was only tough because we lost, you know what I mean?” he said of the Clippers’ 96-88 Game 3 loss in which he shot just 3 of 10 from the line. “If we would have won, it wouldn’t have been a problem.”

National team in L.A.

Team USA’s national team will play five domestic exhibition games as a prelude to the 2016 Rio Games this summer. One of them will be July 24 against China at Staples Center. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers are among the finalists vying for a roster spot. Chris Paul was, but he pulled out.