January 23, 2012

Strong From The Start

  • by

Lamar Odom got the opportunity he has been seeking on Saturday night and he made the most of it.

Lamar got the start and scored a season-high 16 points in Saturday's Mavericks win over the Hornets (Getty Images).

Making his first start as a member of the Mavericks, Lamar scored a season-high 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting and added four rebounds and two assists as Dallas defeated the Hornets 83-81 in New Orleans. It was the second straight win for the road-weary Mavs, who finished a four-game road trip 2-2.

"Once I heard that they haven't won here in a couple years, I kinda just wanted to gut it through, and do whatever I had to do to get this win tonight," LO told Dallas Basketball. "Anytime you can come down here and get one, especially not winning here before; it's a good way to end the trip."

With Dirk Nowitzki sidelined due to knee soreness, No. 7 had the opportunity to play more minutes and take the floor at his natural position, power forward, on Saturday. Nowitzki will be out for several games and the Mavericks will be relying on Lamar to fill in. Coach Rick Carlisle was happy with the way he seized the opportunity.

"I liked the way Lamar played. We're a running team and with him starting and getting more minutes, this is an opportunity for him to get in the habit of running and to raise his level of conditioning," Carlisle said. "He did a lot of good things. He made some timely plays, and this week is a big week for him."

Nearly all of Lamar's makes were timely ones and he scored 12 of his 16 points after the teams went to halftime tied at 41. The Mavs opened the second half on a 12-0 run aided by and LO jumper to put them up by two and a huge trey from No. 7 that ran the lead to nine.

"I'm becoming a lot more comfortable offensively," Lamar said. "I'm just trying to learn the schemes, offensively and defensively, find out where I'm gonna find my shots, and trying to play off guys. It's the easiest thing for me to come down one-on-one, put the ball between my legs three times and just go. But I wanna learn within the system, because I think that'll help us down the road."

New Orleans briefly pulled close in the fourth, but No. 7 contributed a layup to double their lead and moments later sunk three straight from the charity stripe to put Dallas back in front by five. He added a turnaround jumper with less than six minutes to go to put the Mavericks up seven. They led the rest of the way to victory.

"A lot of what we're doing is just out of flow, and the ball found him two or three times and he made important plays for us," Carlisle said. "Our best game is playing out of that dimension and he's getting a better feel for how to play with our guys, and tonight was a good indication of that. He had 16 points and those points were all important points for us.''

Dallas teammates recognize the hard work that both LO and Delonte West have provided in filling the roles of veterans Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd. Guard Jason Terry talked about the clutch performances after the win in New Orleans.

"They have so much pressure on them, but they've responded," Terry said of the Odom-West duo who combined for 32 of the Mavs' points. "Every time they've been asked to step up in their roles, both of them came up big."

Lamar was pleased with the way the Mavs played as a unit on their way to a good victory.

"We have so many guys that can fill it up," he told Dallas Basketball. "You have to play both ends of the court against us, and sometimes everyone being aggressive offensively works as good defesne. We do a good job of mixing it up -- zone, trapping, giving different looks. Brendan and Ian are playing really big protecting the rim right now. So we're doing a great job defensively."

NEXT UP
Lamar and the Mavs return home on Monday after a grueling four-day West Coast road trip to take on the Phoenix Suns.

The Mavs look to continue their six-game win streak over the Suns, who are 6-9 on the season. Look for Lamar to play a pivotal role in this matchup, as his career average against the Suns is 16.3 -- his highest totals against any opponent.

Catch Monday's tipoff at 7:30 CT on FoxSports Southwest.

RELATED STORIES