Rice Is Better, but Still Uncertain

Forward Glen Rice said his sore right elbow felt better on Sunday after missing Saturday’s Game 4 against Houston, but said he didn’t know if he would be ready for today’s Game 1 in the Western Conference semifinal against San Antonio.

After the intense 3-1 series victory over Houston, the Lakers held only a video session and conducted no formal drills at the Alamodome on Sunday afternoon.

“The arm’s still a little stiff [but] much better than it was yesterday,” said Rice, who underwent surgery on the same elbow earlier this year and apparently in Game 3 on Thursday burst a buildup of fluid.

“The fluid is really the cause of the stiffness, and through treatment we’ve been able to get, not all of it, but most of it pretty much under control,” Rice said. “I’m really not worried. I realize once the fluid gets down and the movement gets back into the arm, I’m pretty confident everything’s going to be all right.”

Will he play today?

“We’ll see what happens,” said Rice, who averaged 18.7 points in the first three Houston playoff games.

Rick Fox started for Rice in Game 4 and would probably start Game 1 of this series if Rice can’t.