Sterling Staying Quiet

Clipper owner Donald T. Sterling, through a team spokesman, declined to comment Thursday about his animated postgame conversation Wednesday with Lamar Odom, who told Sterling several times in several ways that he should keep this team together.

Sterling decided to make one of his rare visits to the locker room after Odom approached him at his courtside seat during the game and said, “We need you tonight.” Sterling has been a big Odom booster, standing by the 6-foot-10 forward through two drug suspensions and an 11-month layoff because of wrist and ankle injuries in the last two-plus seasons.

Odom is one of several Clippers who can become restricted free agents at season’s end, and he expressed his desire Wednesday to return to the team. Odom and Sterling embraced and slapped each other on the back at the end of their friendly talk after the Clippers’ victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

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The Clippers are not yet concerned that they haven’t seen center Michael Olowokandi since he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Feb. 3, and that might be one indication of how attempts to retain him might go when he becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1.

“They say he has swelling in his knee and can’t travel well,” Coach Alvin Gentry said. “I expect for him, when he’s physically able, to be at every practice and every game.”

Gentry said he last spoke to Olowokandi at the end of January, days before the team departed for a trip to Toronto, New York and Detroit.

Arthur Ting, orthopedist for hockey’s San Jose Sharks, performed the procedure to remove damaged cartilage at his Bay Area office. Olowokandi has been in touch periodically with Clipper trainer Jasen Powell.

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Gentry said this Thursday about the victory over the Bucks: “It feels great that we played that way. The question is, why don’t we do that all the time? It didn’t surprise me, no. It surprises me when we play the other way.”

The Clippers (19-34) shared the ball, played stingy fourth-quarter defense against Ray Allen, held their late lead and impressed Gentry with one of their more complete games this season.