LAKERS NOTEBOOK: GRANT TO GIVE IT A GO TONIGHT.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Between the soreness in his neck and tendinitis in his knees, Lakers forward Brian Grant has all the aches and pains that come with a 10-year NBA career.

But Grant also knows how important the preseason is to a team breaking in nine new players and four new starters. So Grant plans on playing in tonight's exhibition game against Golden State in Bakersfield, if for no other reason than to see what he can do.

How much Grant plays - maybe a quarter, maybe more - depends on his body. He has been picking and choosing his spots to some degree in practice and still has 16 days to get up to speed before the start of the regular season.

``Right now, it's still early,'' said Grant, who sat out the Lakers' first exhibition game Tuesday against Seattle. ``But I need to get out there just to get myself right.''

It was a sentiment echoed Saturday by Lakers coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who already will be without Vlade Divac, Luke Walton, Devean George, Kareem Rush and Slava Medvedenko tonight.

``He's got to get healthy and get his timing,'' Tomjanovich said of Grant. ``I want him to (play), I'm hoping he's going to be OK. He's a little bit behind on picking up the plays. We have so much stuff, you miss a little bit and, man ...''

--Two days' rest: When the Lakers held their annual media day Oct. 4, Lamar Odom was asked if he thought the extra five weeks of basketball he played this summer for the U.S. Olympic Team would catch up with him this season.

``There's nothing wrong with putting in a little bit of overtime, right?'' Odom responded.

But Tomjanovich has decided Odom needs some rest during the preseason, electing to hold him out of one game when the Lakers play on back-to-back nights. They will do so twice, the first time coming Thursday and Friday.

Tomjanovich coached the United States in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and said he was ``wrecked'' upon his return. That feeling could be even greater for Odom, who had to relocate to Los Angeles after being acquired from Miami in the Shaquille O'Neal trade.

``He came to me and told me that it didn't make sense for me to start playing back-to-backs so early,'' Odom said. ``It's his call. ... I'm all right. I'm going to get my second wind. It'll be here.''

--Thirty-something: Don't expect Kobe Bryant to play 41 minutes tonight, as he did in the Lakers' exhibition opener. Tomjanovich said his competitiveness got the best of him and he left Bryant in Tuesday's game too long.

``I got to tell my assistants to really step on my foot or something,'' Tomjanovich said. ``I'm not going to do that.''

Bryant laughed it off earlier in the week, saying: ``I was out there running around. Nobody came up to the scorer's table for me, so I just kept on running around.''

--Early to bed? After spending a year away from basketball battling bladder cancer, Tomjanovich said he has tried not to be consumed by the game after returning to coaching.

While the Lakers were in San Diego, Tomjanovich said he went to bed by midnight four times. It might have been an all-time record for him.

``I hadn't gone to bed four days before 12 in an entire decade,'' Tomjanovich said. ``When I used to say I went to bed early, that was 2 a.m.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

BRIAN GRANT

Lakers forward will try to play through his injuries in tonight's game against Golden State.

Box:

LAKERS vs. GOLDEN STATE