Knee Problem Flares Up, Keeps Olowokandi on Bench

Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry didn’t need to hear from Michael Olowokandi that the center’s left knee had again bothered him Thursday night in Dallas. Nor did Gentry need confirmation from trainer Jasen Powell.

Olowokandi’s shooting performance against the Mavericks said it all: Three points in 33 minutes on one-for-10 shooting.

So Gentry wasn’t surprised when he was told Olowokandi’s bruised knee, an injury that cost him all eight exhibition games and five regular-season games in December, would force him to sit out Friday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

“Obviously it was bothering him,” Gentry said. “He’s not capable of playing.”

Olowokandi says he hopes to be back for Sunday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center.

“I’m not out there walking on his knees,” Gentry said, “so I can’t really tell how bad it is, but I’m kind of resigned to the fact that there are going to be games this year he won’t be able to play.”

Olowokandi says he hopes to rebuild strength in the knee in “the natural ways,” through rest and weight training, rather then continuing to take cortisone injections.

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Elton Brand had a double-double Friday night, getting 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting and taking 14 rebounds.

But what he talked about in the locker room afterward was how frustrating it was to watch his team come back from a 32-point first-half deficit against the Grizzlies, and then to try to figure out why the Clippers can’t play that way all the time.

“Yes, it’s there,” he said. “It shows what we are capable of. But it’s too late in the season to just take positives from a game. We’ve got to take Ws from games.”

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Three Memphis players also had double-doubles. Center Lorenzen Wright had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Forward Pau Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds. And guard Jason Williams had 17 points and 13 assists

Wright wasn’t impressed with his team’s ability to withstand the Clippers’ third-quarter charge.

“I would rather just blow them out,” he said.