Malone Will Sit Out Again

For the first time since he suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament against Phoenix on Dec. 21, Karl Malone returned to the Lakers’ practice floor on Saturday. Well, sort of.

While his teammates went through a brisk two-hour workout at the HealthSouth practice facility, Malone had his own workout with the team’s trainers, who put him through a series of rehabilitation drills on the sidelines, which included a few laps of straight-ahead running.

It was progress but not enough to satisfy Malone, who had hoped to be back in the lineup for tonight’s game against Boston at Staples Center.

“I’ve never been down the rehab road and I don’t like it,” said Malone, who in his previous 18 seasons playing with the Utah Jazz sat out only four games because of injury.

“This is my first time and I hate it. [My knee] felt all right, but I still have a ways to go. You always want to get your feet wet at home, but now my date is the Seattle game [Friday]. I figure that’s probably best because we’ll have three or four days where I can kind of pick up my intensity and try and get to where I want to be.”

Before this season, Malone had missed consecutive games only once, when he sat out two games because of an ankle injury in April 1989. That was nearly 14 years ago.

“I’ve done everything that I was supposed to do, but [his knee] has not responded like we’ve wanted it to, but we made progress today,” Malone said. “The toughest part has been watching. It took me three or four days before I realized that I was injured. I guess your mind tells you one thing and your body tells you something else.”

Unlike Thursday, when Malone decided to stay at home and not attend the Lakers’ game against Houston, Malone said that he will be inside Staples Center tonight. Just don’t expect him to sit on the bench during the game.

“It’s different than when you’re playing,” Malone said. “When you are playing, you want to be vocal and you can say things in the huddle and stuff. But when you are not playing, it’s just a little different and I respect that. My words don’t mean a lot because I’m not really playing.

“But I can be there to ... give them moral support. It’s going to be tough, but we’ll see.”

While sidelined, Malone has had a chance to watch the Lakers struggle from a distance. And he has noticed a few things.

“We’re not reacting really well as a group, and I consider myself part of the group because we had some of the same problems when I was in there,” Malone said. “It kind of amazes you how you can win 10 straight and everything is great; then lose four out of six and it’s the end of the world.

“We have to realize that teams want to beat us. I watched the halftime interview with [Houston’s] Steve Francis and he said how they want to play extra hard because we’re the Lakers. I said to myself, ‘What happened to trying to play hard against everybody?’ That really hit me.”

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Guard Gary Payton, who left practice early Friday because of a family death, was at practice Saturday but did not participate because of a thumb injury suffered Thursday against the Rockets and a nagging Achilles’ tendon injury. Coach Phil Jackson said Payton’s status for tonight is uncertain.

“We’ll know tomorrow,” Jackson said, “but if he couldn’t practice, it’s obviously bothering him.”

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With Malone out, Slava Medvedenko will get his third consecutive start at power forward. Jackson has been pleased with his play.

“Slava hasn’t had as much success as he would like to have, but he’s getting 10 points and he’s rebounding,” Jackson said about Medvedenko, who has made 10 of 21 attempts from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds over the last two games.

“We know Slava can score more points because he can shoot better than he has. And even saying that, he’s still shooting close to 50% and doing a credible job. It’s just Slava’s understanding of the timing of plays and shots, he still has to work on. Like when a good shot is a good shot and when it is a time to pass it up.”

TONIGHT

vs. Boston, 6:30, Fox Sports Net

Site -- Staples Center.

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

Records -- Lakers 20-7, Celtics 15-15.

Record vs. Celtics (2002-03) -- 1-1.

Update --The Celtics are 1-1 on their current trip, including a 104-102 victory at Phoenix on Friday. Guard Ricky Davis, acquired in a trade from Cleveland earlier this month, won the game for Boston with a jump shot in the final seconds. Paul Pierce leads the Celtics in scoring and rebounding. The teams will play again March 10 at Boston. Staples Center officials are encouraging fans to arrive early because of increased security measures.