Odom Is Still Feeling Pain

The timing was bad for the Lakers. The diagnosis might be worse.

Already fading in their pursuit of a playoff spot, the Lakers went without injured forward Lamar Odom on Sunday because of a strained left shoulder.

An MRI exam was inconclusive, but the Lakers’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder said he expected to miss Tuesday’s game against the Utah Jazz.

Odom, injured Friday against the Indiana Pacers, will visit a shoulder specialist today and could undergo further testing.

“It feels like a muscle strain, like a sprained ankle, but on my shoulder,” Odom said. “I hope I can play [Thursday] against Denver. The timing is the worst.”

Odom, averaging 15.2 points and 10.2 rebounds, had only missed one game this season.

“That’s kind of the way it’s gone,” center Chris Mihm said. “We’ve had guys in and out this year. He was in a lot of pain after the game the other night. He said it was killing him.”

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Slava Medvedenko started in place of Odom against the Seattle SuperSonics, with results that were a slight improvement over an otherwise quiet season for the fifth-year power forward.

Medvedenko, like veterans Devean George and Vlade Divac, has been a non-factor this season after signing a two-year, $6-million contract last August.

He had six points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes against the SuperSonics. He was averaging 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds before Sunday’s game.

Medvedenko started the season slowly, missing the first eight games because of a heel injury. Brian Cook caught Rudy Tomjanovich’s eye with a soft touch from three-point range and took most of the minutes at backup power forward, but Coach Frank Hamblen started Medvedenko against Seattle instead of the slumping Cook.

“He needs to grow more. We know that,” Hamblen said of Medvedenko. “You can’t grow if you don’t play. He’s going to get an opportunity for a while.”