LOS ANGELES – Doc Rivers needs to stagger his stars minutes. He needs to play Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith. The Clippers shoot too many 3s, don’t run enough plays for J.J. Redick and DeAndre Jordan.

And, he wears bad suits.

Coach Rivers won’t hear about any of this criticism – at least that’s what he says. Whether it’s here, his Twitter mentions or a national publication, Rivers said he’s insulated from coverage of his team.

And that means, valid or not, he’s insulated from criticism – at least somewhat. The criticism comes from Rivers’ staff and from his friends around the league.

“Coaches do it every day. People don’t get it. We have seven coaches in there that watch film and give us notes after every game,” Rivers said. “They send them to me. They tell me what we did well, what we didn’t do well, what we can change, suggestions. There are coaches all around the league that talk to coaches. It’s pretty easy to get an update on you.”

The big changes come in the summer.

That’s when the Clippers revamped their pick-and-roll defense. And, that’s when Charlotte coach Steve Clifford altered his team’s offensive philosophy, adding a much larger emphasis on getting behind the 3-point line.

“Right now in our league, it’s the teams that make 3s at a high percentage and shoot a lot are the teams that are winning,” Clifford said. “Obviously, what it speaks to at the end of the day, the more space you have to attack, the better you’re going to be night in and night out.

“In this league, the veteran teams are only going to guard you to where you shoot from. It doesn’t matter where you are; it matters where you can shoot from.”

For Rivers, any changes made in season during talks with his assistants or former colleagues such as ex-Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau are more minor.

“The job is more teaching players to play together and the mental part of the game and getting players to buy in to whatever you’re doing,” Rivers said. “The strategy part is the strategy part, obviously that’s important, too. There’s time, fouls to give, there’s all kinds of philosophies.

“But, you change more in the summer than you do during the season.”

Hawescoming

Spencer Hawes returned to Staples Center for the first time since the Clippers traded him to Charlotte this summer for Lance Stephenson.

Hawes’ numbers aren’t much different than they were last year, though his 3-point shooting has improved from 31.3 percent to 36.7 percent this season.

“Sometimes situations just don’t work out the way you draw it up on paper,” Hawes said of his year with the Clippers. “It was one of those things where when you look at it from that perspective, it looked like a good fit. It didn’t end up that way.”

Before Saturday’s game, Hawes said he was charged up to face his former teammates for the first time. He didn’t play in the first meeting between Charlotte and the Clippers because of a back injury.

“You’ve got a lot of pride when you go back and you play against your old teams,” he said. “Especially against a team that traded you away, you got a little extra incentive.”

Hawes had seven points and four rebounds off the Charlotte bench Saturday in the Hornets’ loss.

Notes

After missing Friday’s practice because of a sore right foot, Wesley Johnson played nearly 23 minutes Saturday, scoring only 3 points. … Jamal Crawford and Paul Pierce combined to shoot 1 of 15 from 3-point range and 10 of 15 inside of it. … The Clippers host New Orleans on Sunday for another 12:30 p.m. start.

Contact the writer: dwoike@ocregister.com