Lamar Odom’s Quickness Key to Lakers Win

What started out as an NBA Second Round Playoff at the Staples Center by the final quarter looked more like an NHL Stanley Cup Playoff. The Lakers and Rockets wound up with more penalty minutes than the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings.

The Lakers got off to a quick start tonight, especially Kobe Bryant. The Lakers’ MVP had 13 points in the first eight minutes on six-for-seven shooting. Bryant finished the first quarter with 15 points. In Game 1, Bryant was only 4-for-12 in the first half and had to take 31 shots to get 32 points for the game. Tonight he would finish with 40.

Even though Lamar Odom did not score in the quarter, the Lakers were a much faster team with Odom on the floor. Phil Jackson had inserted Andrew Bynum in the starting lineup in Game 1 to clog up the lane on defense and post up against the Rockets’ Yao Ming.

What Bynum did instead was clog up the Lakers offense, which slowed down to a snail’s pace, and took away their transition game.

The other thing that Odom did was to open up the middle for Pau Gasol, who was just 1-for-5 in the first half of Game 1. Gasol finished the quarter on 5-for-5 shooting and 13 points to put the Lakers ahead 39-25.

Also, the quickness that Odom added in the front court got Yao Ming into early foul trouble and the Rockets center never could get untracked.

The Lakers started the second quarter with their rotation unit. But matching Phil Jackson move for move, Rick Adelman went small bringing in Von Wafer, a former Laker draft choice and a three-point shooter, to join with Aaron Brooks in the back court and Carl Landry at small forward.

That speedy combination ran circles around the Lakers second unit and quickly cut the Lakers lead to 43-37.

Re-enter Kobe Bryant along with Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol. But the rhythm just wasn’t there.

Turnovers, poor shooting and personal fouls set the Lakers back on their heels. The Rockets, storming back, took the lead 49-48 at the 3:51 mark on a Ron Artest three-pointer.

Even with Yao Ming on the bench with three fouls, the smaller, more determined Rockets and their collapsing defense out-distanced the Lakers 32-18 in the quarter.

It was Kobe Bryant’s three-point jumper as time ran out in the half that tied the Rockets at 57.

Phil Jackson, the nine-time NBA Championship head coach, just has not been able to figure out how to get his first unit back in rhythm after the second unit loses it. Even when they have the size, the starters cannot seem to get back into their game.

It took the halftime break for the Lakers to regroup and take back the lead. But Houston was not about to go away. The Rockets kept it close with Ron Artest hitting on 4-of-7 shots from beyond the arc.

The fact that the Lakers could not put away the feisty Rockets really got under the Lakers skin, and they started losing their cool towards the close of the third period.

With the Lakers up 86-75, Luis Scola fouled Odom going to the hoop. Odom and Luke Walton exchanged words with Scola. Both Odom and Walton drew technicals as did Scola. Then on the ensuing play, Derek Fisher hit Scola with an elbow shot that knocked Scola to the deck.

Fisher was called for a Flagrant Two and was ejected. That forced the Lakers to play the entire fourth quarter without their starting point guard.

The undisciplined second unit started off the quarter with three quick fouls just as they did in Game 1. Would the results be the same with the Lakers getting into an early penalty situation?

Of course, with 8:37 left in the quarter.

While the Lakers lost Fisher for the final quarter, the Rockets were without Von Wafer. It was a coach’s decision as Wafer had words with Rick Adelman and was gone.

With seven minutes remaining, Bryant caught Ron Artest in the neck with an elbow as the two were fighting for position under the boards. Artest went after Bryant, who backed away. Artest was immediately ejected but did not immediately leave the court, which could lead to a hefty fine.

But it was Houston turnovers that were the story of the final quarter and the game. Eight turnovers led to 11 fastbreak points in the quarter and 22 points overall on 18 turnovers, giving the Lakers a 111-98 win to even the series at one game apiece.

While the second unit was horrendous in the first half, they improved in the final quarter and wound up with a total of 22 points. Shannon Brown had seven points, and Luke Walton helped to pull the unit together with his five assists and six points.

Walton was the only member of the second unit to have a plus-game. He was a +6 during his 20 minutes on the court. All the other rotation players had minus-games because of their poor second quarter play.

Kobe Bryant had a game-high 40 points. Pau Gasol was much improved playing in tandem with Odom. Gasol had 22 points and 14 rebounds. Odom contributed 11 rebounds to go with his seven points and four assists.

Ron Artest left the game with a team-high 25 points for the Rockets and five assists. Carl Landry off the bench put in 21 points and grabbed ten rebounds.

Aside from turnovers, the other story of the game for the Rockets was Yao Ming scoring only 12 points and playing only 26 minutes. Yao was in foul trouble the entire game.

The focus now shifts to Houston, where the Rockets will try to maintain their home court advantage.