Mihm Still Not Right

The Lakers, enmeshed in a 2-1 series with the Phoenix Suns, might be without Chris Mihm the rest of the first round.

The Laker center has experienced more soreness and swelling in the severely sprained right ankle that caused him to sit out 17 games toward the end of the regular season.

He has been out all three Laker playoff games after playing 14 minutes in the regular-season finale against New Orleans.

“In hindsight, that’s where it got all flared up,” Mihm said Friday. “I don’t know if it was too early. It was my schedule. I didn’t want to come back in the playoffs without playing a game.”

Mihm said he probably was out for Game 4 on Sunday and could not guarantee he would return for the first-round series.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m hoping we can find a way. We’re trying everything right now. We have been all along.”

Mihm, who averaged 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds during the regular season, would not reclaim his starting job because of Kwame Brown’s strong play, but, if healthy, could provide ample rest time for Brown.

Mihm had two cortisone injections and continues to undergo electro-stimulation therapy on the ankle, he said.

“The guys are playing well,” he said. “It’s upsetting not to be part of it.”

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Laker Coach Phil Jackson continues to insert clips of “Inside Man” during game-film sessions. The team eventually will have seen the entire movie, a minute or two at a time, before the series is over.

“It’s kind of funny how you’re watching some basketball clips and then all of a sudden there’s a movie on, and now we’re watching a movie and we’re getting into the movie, and it’s back to the basketball,” guard Smush Parker said. “It keeps us tuned in to what’s going on.”

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There are downsides to wearing the Laker 2000 championship ring, it turns out.

“It’s cumbersome,” said Jackson, who is wearing his on his right pinkie finger. “I can’t write with it, it’s just awful. I’ll put up with it for a while.”