Battered Squad Needs a Break

The Clippers’ five-day holiday layoff couldn’t have come at a better time for the battered and bruised team. The list of injured grew again during Friday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns, when backup guard Quentin Richardson sprained his left ankle.

Richardson would have to sit out Saturday against the Denver Nuggets.

And there was more.

Point guard Andre Miller’s sprained left ankle was not significantly improved and his status for Saturday’s game also was uncertain until tipoff. Miller is scheduled to sit out while the team practices Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in an attempt to reduce the swelling and soreness in his ankle, injured Nov. 29.

Meanwhile, power forward Elton Brand sat out his second game because of a strained right calf. Shooting guard Eric Piatkowski was sidelined for his sixth game because of a lower abdominal strain.

Small forwards Corey Maggette and Lamar Odom continued to be sidelined by knee and ankle injuries, although each is moving closer to a return to the court. Maggette is expected back early next month and Odom is tentatively scheduled to play for the first time in 11 months next Saturday against the Golden State Warriors.

Odom suggested to The Times on Friday that he might consider moving up his return date to Friday’s game at Phoenix, the Clippers’ first game after their five-game break. He said it again Saturday.

“I’m thinking about coming back on the road,” he said. “Less pressure.”

Of the string of injuries that have derailed the Clippers’ hopes to move into playoff contention and stay there from the start of the season, Coach Alvin Gentry said, “We play and get into a rhythm and somebody else gets hurt. You can’t do anything about it. The players don’t want to be hurt. The coaches don’t want them to be hurt. You’ve just got to deal with it.”