Full Contact for Brand

After he’d spent nearly five weeks watching eagerly from the side, not even a split lip could spoil Elton Brand’s return to practice Tuesday.

“I loved it; it felt good,” he said of an inadvertent elbow to the mouth from teammate Melvin Ely during a 2 1/2-hour workout at L.A. Southwest College. “To get elbowed in the face again, I missed that, you know.”

An X-ray taken earlier in the day showed that Brand’s broken right foot was healed, and he was cleared for full contact. Brand, the Clippers’ leading scorer and rebounder the last two seasons, is expected in the lineup next week.

“He looked pretty good,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said of Brand, who hasn’t played since Oct. 30, when he had 21 points, 15 rebounds, eight blocked shots and five assists in a season-opening 109-100 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics at Saitama, Japan. “Pretty amazing [that] a guy can come in and bang and still have some touch and do the things he does. He looked decent.”

Dunleavy, however, recently warned Brand’s teammates not to expect too much too soon from the All-Star forward.

“I pointed to him and said, ‘Don’t expect this guy to be the savior,’ ” Dunleavy said. “There’s a lot of stuff he can do. He can plug a lot of holes, but not [all] the holes that I’ve seen. He doesn’t have that many fingers.”

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Although they had announced two months ago that tonight’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers was sold out, the Clippers said Tuesday that tickets at all price levels were still available for LeBron James’ regular-season Staples Center debut.

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Forward Chris Wilcox, sidelined since Saturday because of a strained left groin, has targeted a Friday return against Utah at Salt Lake City.... Eddie House sat out practice because of a sore left foot and was scheduled for X-rays afterward. The reserve guard said he was injured in Monday’s 91-83 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. He was listed as day to day.

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TONIGHT

vs. Cleveland, 7:30, Fox Sports Net 2

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KRLA (870).

Records -- Clippers 5-8, Cavaliers 4-14.

Record vs. Cavaliers -- 0-1.

Update -- The Cavaliers defeated the Clippers on Nov. 18, 103-95, but they have lost seven in a row since and are 0-11 on the road after losing to Denver on Tuesday. Dating to Jan. 12, they have lost 32 consecutive road games. James, however, is living up to the hype, averaging 17.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists.

Tickets -- (800) 462-2849.