LAKERS NOTEBOOK: CLIPPERS' START COULD SPARK CITY RIVALRY.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

When few were listening back in training camp, Lakers forward Lamar Odom quietly predicted the Clippers would be one of the NBA's surprise teams this season.

Odom wasn't asking to forget all about the Clippers' history as second citizens in Los Angeles. Instead, he was looking at a roster upgraded with the likes of Cuttino Mobley and Sam Cassell this summer.

``They've got talented guys and they added two veterans to their team,'' said Odom, who played four seasons with the Clippers and remains close with forward Elton Brand.

To the rest of the city, though, the Clippers' start might qualify as stunning. They are 3-0 for the first time in 20 years, with Lakers coach Phil Jackson even tuning in to watch the final minutes of Saturday night's victory against Minnesota.

The Clippers finished with a better record than the Lakers last season for only the third time in the 20 years the teams have shared the city. They will play for the first time this season Nov. 18, a Lakers home game.

Although the rivalry between the Lakers and Clippers always has been one-sided, Odom said it would be a good thing if the two teams chased each other this season.

``When you've got two teams, it'd be good for any city,'' Odom said. ``It's good for New York when the Yankees and the Mets are good. It's good when the Jets and Giants do well. But we have more to worry about than whether they do well or not.''

Both teams will get the chance to measure up to each other on similar four-game road trips that start this week. The teams both play at Atlanta, Minnesota and Philadelphia.

Jackson said he grouped the Clippers and Lakers together in the offseason when he was evaluating which teams would fight for the bottom three spots in the Western Conference.

--No go: Although he mentioned it the day before as a possibility, Jackson did not activate Luke Walton for Sunday's game. Walton hasn't played since suffering a hamstring tear in the Lakers' first exhibition game nearly four weeks ago.

``I think I'll feel a little more comfortable after a couple more practices,'' said Walton, who could return Friday at Philadelphia, ``and a couple more chances to compete in a controlled environment first.''

Jackson did decide to activate teenage center Andrew Bynum in place of guard Devin Green. The league's new rules allow teams to activate players up to an hour before tipoff and Jackson has made changes prior to the Lakers' past two games.

``I think it's a great ploy and I think it's an advantageous thing to have that,'' Jackson said, ``especially if you don't have injured players, you have an opportunity to use players or different lineups against different type teams.''