Suspension Ends for Odom

The Clippers figure to get a boost tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers when co-captain Lamar Odom returns to the lineup after a five-game suspension for violating the league’s anti-drug program. And considering the Clippers’ 15-point loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday, Odom’s return couldn’t come at a better time.

“I’m so excited that Lamar is coming back because we are such a better team with him,” shooting guard Eric Piatkowski said. “We get better movement with the ball. We have a go-to guy when things get tough. He’s the one guy who can take the ball and take over a game all by himself. We need that. He’s the best player on the team and we get in a much better flow with him out there.”

The Clippers were 1-4 without Odom.

“We will welcome him back with open arms,” Coach Alvin Gentry said.

The 76ers are not expected to have all-star guard Allen Iverson in the lineup. He did not travel with the team for the first two games of their four-game trip because of a hip injury. Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown is expected to rejoin the team after missing two games while having medical tests for disorders of the stomach and esophagus.

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What stood out in the Clippers’ lopsided loss to Utah was continuity. The Jazz had plenty of it, the Clippers precious little.

“They are a young team and they have some very talented guys but they haven’t played together,” Utah Coach Jerry Sloan said of the Clippers. “These guys of ours have played together for years. Obviously, John [Stockton] and Karl [Malone] have been around each other throughout their careers. That’s why teams that stay together have a chance to understand what they’re doing and they know what each player likes to do in certain situations.

“I’ve always said anybody can play for the first three or four minutes, and for [the first 20 seconds of the shot clock], but you learn how to play in the final minutes of a game and the final seconds [of the 24-second shot clock]. I’ve been lucky because they haven’t run me off and our owner has kept us in there. That makes a big difference. It always has.”

Clipper point guard Jeff McInnis said that, in time, the Clippers could grow into a team similar to the Jazz.

“They’ve been together so long, that’s why they’re able to play off one another so well,” McInnis said. “For example, I know Jerry Stackhouse so well because we were teammates in college [at North Carolina] and every summer we play together. I know when and where he likes the ball and that comes from playing together for a long period of time. If you keep [the Clippers] together, you will start to see some of that. . . . At this time next year, I don’t think you will have to ask about our chemistry and continuity.”

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Corey Maggette is questionable for tonight’s game after suffering a sprained left ankle against Utah. McInnis, who has tendinitis in both knees, is probable and rookie Quentin Richardson, who has sat out the last two games because of a viral infection, is expected to be back in uniform.

TONIGHT

vs. Philadelphia, 7:30

Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Staples Center.

* Radio--KXTA (1150).

* Records--Clippers 23-45, 76ers 48-19.

* Record vs. 76ers--0-1.

* Update--The Clippers expect their eighth sellout of the season, which would move them within one of their single-season franchise record set in 1991-92 at the Sports Arena.

Tickets--(800) 462-2849.