Eager Richardson Set to Practice

Quentin Richardson smiled when someone wondered Wednesday if he was prepared to fight through the pain of a bruised right knee the way Philadelphia Eagle quarterback Donovan McNabb did in playing on a broken ankle Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

“Chi-town boys are tough,” Richardson, a Chicago native, said with a laugh.

However, Richardson isn’t about to push his knee before it’s sound.

He is set to practice today with his teammates for the first time since going on the injured list Nov. 12. He bumped his knee in the first half of the Clippers’ loss Nov. 8 to the New Jersey Nets.

He also sprained the same knee running wind sprints Oct. 4 and hyperextended it Nov. 3 against the Detroit Pistons.

Richardson has had enough of sitting out.

“I’m tired of that,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll play Friday. I’m ready to get going.”

The Clippers play at Denver on Friday.

“We’ll see,” Coach Alvin Gentry said when asked if Richardson would be activated by Friday’s game. “He wants to get in a hard practice anyway. It won’t do us any good unless he’s ready to go all out.”

Gentry plans to use Richardson in a reserve role, keeping Eric Piatkowski as the team’s starting shooting guard.

*

Lamar Odom continues to rehabilitate his sprained right ankle. His sprained right wrist is sound enough to allow to him play, but he’s waiting to gain strength in his ankle.

Asked when he believed Odom would play, Gentry said, “December,” while holding his hands far apart to signify the large window in which the Clippers’ leading scorer in 2000-01 is expected back on the floor.