Recovering Brand gets edgy with losses

It was much easier for Elton Brand to watch, wait and heal while the Clippers were winning.

Now, with the team mired in a five-game losing streak, his task is harder.

“When we were doing really well and 4-0 it was kind of easy,” Brand said. “But now, it’s definitely tougher.”

Brand, recovering from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon sustained during the off-season, is scheduled for a follow-up appointment with his surgeon, Dr. Craig Morgan, in Wilmington, Del., next Tuesday.

If the surgically repaired tendon checks out strength-wise, Morgan will attempt to establish a timetable for Brand to start performing light basketball-related drills.

In the meantime, Brand has added 10-12 pounds of muscle while lifting weights every day, but may taper off once he returns to the court. “I definitely still want to be quick, so we’ll probably gauge it more when it’s time to run,” he said.

Brand, the Clippers’ franchise forward who averaged 20.5 points last season, said he is optimistically hoping for a February return.

“I’m not trying to target an exact date,” he said. “But it’s a six-to-eight-month injury and that would be six months. That would be the closest timetable.”

The rest of the Clippers’ injury report:

Leading scorer Corey Maggette will be a game-time decision tonight after tweaking his strained right hamstring in Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The injury caused Maggette to miss four games earlier this season and forced him to sit most of the fourth quarter on Sunday.

Also, rookie Al Thornton is doubtful for tonight and his sprained right ankle could cause him to miss an additional game or two.

Thornton said he aggravated the injury after landing on Maggette’s shoe.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Thornton, lying on a bench near the Clippers’ practice court while receiving treatment on the sore ankle. “I was in a nice little rhythm.”

Thornton, who scored 10 points on four-for-six shooting against the Pacers, said he would accompany the team to Seattle and Sacramento in hopes of playing soon.

“Any injuries to key players on a team hurt and they put more pressure on you to perform at a high level,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We don’t have a lot of room for mistakes and it’s taken a toll on us so far.”

When asked what would happen if center Chris Kaman, who has solidified the middle, was injured, Dunleavy responded:

“We’d be like the Miami Dolphins.”

General Manager Elgin Baylor had a busy and basketball-packed Sunday.

First up, he attended the USC-Kansas game at the Galen Center. He made it to Staples Center shortly before halftime of the Pacers-Clippers game. He finished the day watching UCLA play host to Texas.

“It’s not impossible because the time is in your favor,” Baylor said. “The only bad part was it wasn’t a good day for the home teams.”

All the Los Angeles teams lost Sunday.

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TONIGHT

vs. Milwaukee, 7:30, FSN Prime

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Clippers 6-9, Bucks 7-8.

Record vs. Bucks (2006-07) -- 2-0.

Update -- After briefly leading the Central Division, the Bucks have lost four straight games and are only 1-6 on the road. The Bucks are fourth in the Central Division.

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com