Bryant Could Miss 10 More Games

Kobe Bryant, sidelined since sustaining a severely sprained right ankle Jan. 13, is not expected to play on an upcoming trip and could be out until mid-February.

The Lakers have four more home games before beginning a five-game trip Feb. 6 in Houston. Bryant already has sat out six games.

“As of today, it’s unlikely that he’ll play on the trip,” Laker spokesman John Black said Thursday. “We maintain hope that he’ll be back soon. He’s a fast healer compared to most people, but that was a severe sprain.”

Even if he doesn’t play on the trip, which includes games in Atlanta, New Jersey, Detroit and Cleveland, Bryant will travel with the team to continue daily treatment sessions with trainers.

When the Lakers return, they will have one home game, Feb. 15 against Utah, before the All-Star break.

Bryant is second in All-Star voting among Western Conference guards, although he will skip the game if his ankle hasn’t healed. If he plays before then and does not exacerbate the injury, the league would expect Bryant to play in the All-Star game, Feb. 20 in Denver.

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A possible explanation for Chris Mihm’s sagging statistics has emerged.

Mihm acknowledged he had been slowed by shin splints in his right leg. He has been running awkwardly since sustaining a deep bruise in his right calf after getting kicked there in a game last week.

“I’m struggling out there,” said Mihm, who has totaled 18 points and 11 rebounds in the last three games. “I didn’t have any lift in my legs.”

Mihm’s injury is not serious enough to warrant time on the injured list -- rest and frequent ice baths have been prescribed for his leg -- but it has caused a ripple effect in the Laker frontcourt.

Last week, the Lakers led the league with 44.5 rebounds per game, but they were beaten badly on the boards in losses to Seattle and the Clippers. They have fallen to third in the league with 44 rebounds per game, behind Orlando and Dallas.

“It hasn’t been a problem most of the season,” Laker Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “The last two games, rebounding and turnovers have killed us, absolutely killed us.”

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Former Laker forward Kermit Washington made news after being hired as an assistant coach for the Asheville (N.C.) Altitude of the NBA’s development league.

Washington and Tomjanovich became forever intertwined in one of the ugliest incidents in league history when Washington punched Tomjanovich in the face during an on-court fracas at the Forum in 1977. Tomjanovich sustained compound facial fractures and was out of basketball for almost a year.

After years of distance, they have become casual acquaintances.

“I’m really, really happy for him,” Tomjanovich said. “I think he’ll do fine. I know he has a passion for the game. I know he loves working with players.”

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No Lakers were selected to play in the All-Star rookie challenge, which pits second-year players against rookies during next month’s All-Star weekend in Denver. Second-year forward Brian Cook was a possibility earlier in the season, but he has scored more than 10 points twice in the last 17 games.... Lamar Odom has fouled out of two games, has had five fouls 10 other times and has picked up six technical fouls. “I’ve just got to handle myself the right way,” he said. “It’s just about playing the right way, treating the refs the right way. What I mean by that is how you talk to them and how you handle them, especially after a call that you think is wrong. Maybe I haven’t been doing a good job of that, whether it’s a face I might be making or a hand gesture or whatever it may be.”

TONIGHT

vs. New Jersey, 7:30

FSN West

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KLAC (570); KWKW (1330).

Records -- Lakers 22-18, Nets 16-26.

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

Update -- The Nets have had a tumultuous season, with Jason Kidd’s delayed return from knee surgery and more recently with Richard Jefferson’s season-ending wrist injury. In between, the Nets traded for Vince Carter, who has averaged 23 points and 4.7 assists in 17 games since being acquired from Toronto.