Concluding that there were not enough available practice days to get forward Elton Brand into game shape, Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy came up with another plan.

Brand and center Chris Kaman will play one-on-one against each other and mix in a series of suicide sprints to compensate for not being able to scrimmage in a five-on-five, full-court setting.

The plan will benefit them both. Brand has missed the entire season, to this point, as he battles back from a ruptured left Achilles tendon, suffered last summer.

Kaman, meanwhile, has missed the past eight games and 12 of the past 17 contests because of nerve inflammation of the lower back.

Dunleavy believes that his two stalwart low-post players can benefit each other, and subsequently the team, once they are cleared by the medical staff for game action.

Kaman, who started the first 39 games, was on his way to being a leading candidate for the NBA's most improved player award. That was until he initially came down with a bad case of the flu, which caused him to miss five games in late January and lose 15 pounds.

Brand, who has averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds for his career, steadfastly believes that the Clippers would not be in the dire state that they are in had he not gotten injured.

Kaman expects to be back on the court March 25, when the Clippers play the Dallas Mavericks. There is no date yet set, however, for Brand's return.

As for guard Shaun Livingston, who has missed this entire season while recovering from left knee surgery, his goal of playing this season will not be met. Livingston continues on a strengthening program.

TRAIL BLAZERS 83, CLIPPERS 72: Despite shooting only 37.6 percent from the field, the Trail Blazers completed a back-to-back, weekend sweep of the Clippers Saturday. Portland center Joel Przybilla snagged a career-high 25 rebounds in 35 minutes against the undersized Clippers' front line.

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