LOS ANGELES – J.J. Redick is on a hot streak.

Since Feb. 25, the Clippers’ starting shooting guard is averaging 20.6 points while shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 43.7 percent from 3.

Teams are adjusting, starting to game plan more for him, and yet, he’s still shooting well.

It’s not because of incredible individual skills, the way Kobe Bryant can fill a box score with a defender smothered all over him.

Redick’s getting his points because defenders are seemingly always a step or two away.

“I don’t know how he’s still open,” DeAndre Jordan said. “It boggles my mind.”

The Clippers, owners of the league’s top offense according to efficiency (points per 100 possessions), seem to get what they want when they want it, whether it’s an open Redick jumper, a Chris Paul mid-range shot or a lob to DeAndre Jordan.

And, they do it because of their smarts and their familiarity.

“I think we have our framework offensively, the players get familiar with it and they take it to their advantage,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “There are a lot of options, but most of the options are reads. The smarter you are at the way we play, the better you can use it. I think when you look at J.J., C.P. and Blake (Griffin), they do a great job of doing that.”

It starts with Paul, one of the NBA’s premier point guards.

“When you have a guy like that, you can put a team in space or in a play, and Chris figures it out. It makes you a lot smarter,” Rivers said. “He’s a high I.Q. player – maybe the highest, one of the top two or three I’ve been around. He and Rondo, just basketball sense, seeing … sometimes it gets them in trouble because they’re just so smart. Give me that all day.”

Then, there’s Griffin.

During his rookie season, Griffin worked with then Clipper assistant Tony Brown – a longtime friend of Rivers. And once Rivers got to Los Angeles, Brown told him he was in for a surprise.

“Tony Brown was talking about his passing. ‘You’re going to be shocked. I’m telling you. You’re going to be shocked at how good he can pass the ball, his instincts and they way he sees stuff,’ Rivers relayed. “I heard Tony when he was saying it, but I was like ‘I’ve not seen that much.’ Within a week in practice, you were like ‘Wow, he can really pass and see things.’”

And then there’s Redick, running defenses ragged off screen after screen, while emerging as one of the league’s top sharpshooters.

“I want to screen for J.J. because when he gets open, I think it’s going in,” Jordan, the league’s top rebounder, said. “…When he shoots it and looks at the rim, I just get back on defense.”

Other things are working. Matt Barnes is getting to the right spots on the floor, Paul and Redick are having career-type years, and Griffin and Jordan keep improving.

But it’s their smarts and their continuity that has them playing at this level.

Rivers has entrusted them to make the right play based on the situation, and they’re almost always choosing correctly.

“We start a play, and the rest of the play is all reads,” Rivers said. “The first option is something we want to get. After that, it turns into, ‘If they do this, we can do this.’ The better you are at reading it, the better you’ll be.”

Notes

Jamal Crawford went through another rigorous workout Sunday and remains on track to play for the first time in 17 games on Tuesday against the Lakers. Crawford’s been out since early March with a deep right calf bruise. …The Clippers are now 15-4 in the second night of back-to-backs this season.

Contact the writer: dwoike@ocregister.com