LOS ANGELES -- I have long been a fan of Lamar Odom the person, one of the nicer guys you will ever meet, in professional sports or anywhere else. Odom the player can be a more frustrating proposition, because he always seems capable of more than he does.
But it would be very difficult to find fault with Odom now, either in his impact with the Lakers or how he's handling his moves from the bench to the starting lineup and (probably) back.
Odom was a huge factor in the Lakers' 107-96 win over Utah on Monday to close out the first-round series. He finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, offset only by three turnovers. That gave him 36 points and 30 rebounds in his two starts at the end of the series, which probably won't be enough to retain a spot in the starting lineup. Coach Phil Jackson said he would "more than likely" put Andrew Bynum back in the starting lineup against either Portland or Houston.
"That gives us a big lineup," said Jackson. "I think we're pretty good with that lineup. We've done some good things over the course of the year, even after he came back (from his injury). ...
"Lamar's playing great, but his effort off the bench is going to be very important to us. It gives us a whole different arrangement to how we play."
No big deal, said Odom.
"It makes no difference," he said. "Obviously you can see that now, in my game, in my rhythm. I'm here to do whatever it takes to win, and that's to create positive energy. So it's too late in the season for me to take that personal, or pout."
And, he said, there's no difference in preparation, regardless of his role.
"I feel good," he said. "I'm in the prime of my career. I'm handsome. I'm pretty." (Yes, he did laugh as he said that.)
Odom averaged 17.8 points, 11 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 blocks in the Utah series, after regular-season averages of 11.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 blocks.
"He's a versatile player," said Pau Gasol. "There's no doubt about that. He's been a little bit up and down. He's not extremely comfortable coming off the bench, and probably not as productive as he is as a starter, as with probably the majority of players in this league. ...
"No matter what lineup, he's going to help, because of his skills, his knowledge of the game. He knows how to play, he attacks all the power forwards because of his ball handling and speed and skill set. So he's a guy that can contribute in different ways. He's got his confidence up now, and he's got to take advantage of it."
So do the Lakers, because Odom is so unique in his mix of size and skills.
"Lamar, you can drop him anywhere," said Kobe Bryant, "and he's going to be effective, going to be productive. And that's what makes him so valuable. He can come off the bench. He can play four positions. His rebounding's a big key for us, and his shooting. He's been shooting the ball really well. And defensively he's been guarding a multitude of players.
"He's a big key for it."
That's been true throughout the season, but it was certainly true against Utah.
What they said: A variety of other postgame reactions from Monday night:
Jackson, on the team's play in the series, and the finale:
"I think we played well. Offensively, we had some really good games. I thought we played spotty defense tonight. I liked our defense for the first three quarters: Good hands, tipping the ball, getting runouts kind of broke the game open. We didn't close the door.
"We had four guys off the bench with Kobe at the start of the fourth quarter, and they just couldn't sustain the effort. ...
"I told them in the locker room we have to improve as we go forward."
Trevor Ariza, who started despite spraining his ankle in Game 4 and had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, two blocks and four turnovers in 27:29:
"That's what my team needed me to do. I try to do everything I can to help my team win. ...
"We're happy that we got the win, but I don't think we're happy about how we won, so we have to pay attention and stay focused on closing games out."
Jazz center Mehmet Okur, on Utah's late comeback bid:
"It was a little bit too late 'cause they had a 20-point lead. We just wanted to come out there in the fourth, just bring our 'A' game. We should've started the game like that. It was a must-win game for us. For some reason, we just couldn't start like that."
Jazz guard Deron Williams, on the physical play at the end of the game:
"It is what it is. It happens out there. You've got to take your hat off to those guys (the Lakers) though. They came out, they had a game plan, they were a focused team and they executed their game plan."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, unhappy with his team's early effort, calling it "fair at best":
"I was surprised it took something like Ronnie Price's effort to bring us back alive out there. I have never seen a guy play that hard in my life, in that situation. ...
"Ronnie Price gave us some tremendous play in order to help us get there (back within five after trailing by 22). Had we set screens like that all night, we would have gotten a lot easier shots. If we'd done it like that in the whole series, we'd have gotten better shots."
No Luke: Prior to the game, the Lakers announced that Luke Walton was out indefinitely after an MRI discovered a partially torn ligament in his left ankle. Walton said he'd suffered the injury in the third quarter of Game 4 and kept playing, but "it just got worse and worse. By the time we landed (on the flight home), it was killing me. So I got an MRI this morning, and they said I've got to shut it down for a while.
"It's frustrating, it sucks, but it happens. So I'll deal with it, and treat it, and hope to get back out there."
Walton said he "absolutely" expects to play in the second round.
He called the way the injury occurred "weird.
"I stopped to make a pivot, and felt my bone kind of shift. It didn't even roll over. The bone kind of shifted out and came back, and they said when that happened, it tore part of the ligament. ...
"It's a dull, throbbing pain. And obviously, when I try to push off it, it turns to sharper. But it already feels better today than yesterday. So we'll see what (trainer) Gary Vitti can do."