Lottery Makes It an Odd Ending

The Lakers and Clippers are jostling for 10th in the Western Conference, but the loser gets the bigger prize -- a higher draft pick and a slightly better chance to move up in the lottery.

If the season ended today, the Lakers would have the 10th overall pick, one spot better than the Clippers and the Orlando Magic.

“The Lakers will always be a better team, there’s no question,” center Vlade Divac said. “But if you look what’s better for our future for the lottery -- as a player you can not think about it, you just go out and play -- but if you don’t make the playoffs, the best thing that can happen is you’re the worst team, right?”

If the Lakers finish with the 10th-worst record, they will have 11 chances out of 1,000 to get the top overall pick. If the Clippers finish with the 11th-worst record, they will have eight chances out of 1,000 at the top pick.

If teams tie, the league conducts a tiebreaker by placing both team names into a hopper and pulling out one. That team would get the higher draft position and a better possibility of moving up in the May 24 lottery.

“A lot of people would like to see us finish in front of them as far as fans,” Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We’re not going to gain anything by it. It doesn’t do anything for us. I’d rather win all our games but one and finish behind the Lakers than go [winless] and be ahead of the Lakers. I’m really more interested in how well we play.”

The Lakers have a more difficult schedule than the Clippers, with games against Sacramento, Dallas, Golden State and Portland. The Clippers have two games against bottom-dwelling New Orleans and one each against Phoenix and Houston.

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Kobe Bryant missed Thursday’s practice because of what team officials said were personal reasons. Laker spokesman John Black said it had not been determined whether it was an excused absence or not. Bryant also missed hosting a private event Thursday night at a team charity event. He is expected to play tonight against Sacramento.... Forward Lamar Odom received a second opinion from New York doctor David Altchek, who concurred with Laker orthopedist Steve Lombardo that surgery should be performed on a labrum tear in Odom’s left shoulder. Odom will decide in the next few days if he wants to undergo the surgery, which has a four-month recovery period.... Center Chris Mihm, who sat out six games because of a sprained right ankle, is healthy enough to play tonight. ... Divac joked that the Lakers would do well if the draft lottery were held in his native Serbia and Montenegro: “If [Commissioner David Stern] organized a lottery in Belgrade, I’m guaranteeing we would win.”

TONIGHT

vs. Sacramento, 7:30, FSN West, ESPN

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 570, 1330.

Records -- Lakers 34-44, Kings 48-30.

Record vs. Kings -- 2-1.

Update -- The Kings have not played since defeating the Lakers, 124-105, on Sunday. Win or lose for the Lakers, this will mark the third consecutive time they have not won the regular-season series against the Kings.

Times staff writer Jerry Crowe contributed to this report.