Kittles’ Return Is All Part of Healing

The Clippers finally got a glimpse Saturday night of what they’d been looking for since July, when they traded for Kerry Kittles.

Kittles, sidelined for all but one of the Clippers’ first 17 games because of a balky right knee, showed his versatility in an 89-87 loss to the Lakers. The former New Jersey Net shooting guard scored 15 points in 31 minutes, making seven of 15 shots. He had five assists, three rebounds and three steals. He played the point at times. He defended Kobe Bryant, who missed 19 of 32 shots.

“I played him more minutes than he was ready for -- he was dying out there -- but basically that’s what we see him being able to do for us,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said Sunday. “It was very positive.”

Kittles sat out training camp and the season’s first 10 games after arthroscopic surgery in June, then was sidelined again two days after playing 24 minutes in a Nov. 21 loss to the Phoenix Suns, suffering a hyper-extended knee in practice.

In addition to his conditioning, he said his timing was off against the Lakers as he adjusted to his new teammates. But he seemed glad to be back.

“From Day 1, I’ve said these guys play hard, they compete,” he said. “It’s going to take a while for some of these guys to learn what they can do at this level, but they play really hard ... and I like that.

“I enjoy playing with guys like that.”

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Dunleavy dismissed as untrue a New York Daily News report that rookie Shaun Livingston, sidelined since suffering a dislocated right kneecap last month in practice, would not play again this season. He said Livingston’s recovery is on pace and that he should return after the All-Star break, if not sooner.... The Clippers are better than usual, the Lakers worse, but for the 20th time in 21 seasons the Clippers will not win the season series between the teams. They’re 0-2 against the Lakers this season, with games remaining Jan. 26 and March 8, and 20-77 since moving from San Diego. The Lakers have won the season series 18 times, with one split.

TONIGHT

vs. Boston, 7:30, FSN West 2

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- XTRA (690/1150).

Records -- Clippers 11-8, Celtics 8-11.

Record vs. Celtics (2003-04) -- 2-0.

Update -- The Clippers are 7-2 against teams with losing records. Paul Pierce averages 21.5 points and former Laker Gary Payton 11.9 points and 6.3 assists for the Celtics, who are 1-3 on a trip that ends tonight.

Tickets -- (800) 462-2849.