Maggette Is Expected to Resume Starting

On second thought, Coach Alvin Gentry decided he would probably start Corey Maggette at small forward tonight against the Utah Jazz. Tremaine Fowlkes had been starting since Maggette dislocated two bones in his right hand after punching the scorer’s table Feb. 21 at Orlando.

Gentry said Monday he would continue to start Fowlkes, then changed his mind. Maggette has played two games since he was activated from the injured list and the Clippers, desperately needing a jolt, will welcome back his hard-nosed style of play tonight.

Fowlkes has averaged four points and 3.5 rebounds in 18 games, 17 of them starts. Maggette averages 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds.

“I’ll get no complaints from Tremaine, I know that,” Gentry said of Fowlkes, signed from the National Basketball Development League on Feb. 23. “He’s done a great job for us. I think he’s played pretty consistently. We’ve talked to him about being more aggressive offensively. [But] he’s done what we’ve asked him to do.”

The Clippers hope Fowlkes will join their summer league team during the off-season.

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The Clippers expect Lamar Odom to undergo surgery on his sprained right wrist next week. No date has been set but Gentry said the procedure probably would be done within the next four or five days.

Odom has been on the injured list since Jan. 24. He hurt his wrist after a hard fall in the Clippers’ victory Dec. 16 against the Detroit Pistons.

During his layoff, he also stepped on a stray ball while attempting a dunk and sprained his right ankle.

TONIGHT

at Utah, 6 PST

Site--Delta Center.

Radio--KSPN (1110) (7 p.m., delayed).

Records--Clippers 37-37, Jazz 41-33.

Record vs. Jazz--0-3.

Update--The Clippers have yet to win in 21 games at the Delta Center. They also play Thursday against the Mavericks at Dallas on this two-game trip. Power forward Elton Brand needs two more games with 10 or more points and rebounds to match Swen Nater’s franchise record of 54 double-doubles in a season, set in 1980-81. Brand also is closing in on Michael Cage’s team record for offensive rebounds, 371 in 1987-88. Brand has a league-leading 358. The Jazz lost to the Nuggets Tuesday at Denver.