Lakers' Lamar Odom doesn't get points for performance

Odom was in the starting lineup, a point of contention for him because Coach Phil Jackson suggested he might come off the bench, but his stats were insignificant other than the fouls.

In 20 minutes, Odom had three points, five rebounds and three assists.

Assistant coach Kurt Rambis said Odom's game was "fair to middling, maybe poor," and that Odom "didn't seem focused out there."

Jackson took it a step further.

"I just got through telling him that this is really basketball now," Jackson said Wednesday. "He looks like he's either curling or doing some other kind of sport. He's not playing basketball.

"The first shot he took was a three-pointer in the middle of the third quarter? That was pretty interesting."

Jackson was non-committal when asked whether Odom would continue handling the ball.

"We still have some time to go with this," he said. "We'll see how it goes."

The Lakers have seven more exhibition games, including tonight against the Clippers in Fresno.

Odom had two turnovers against Utah, which actually wasn't bad compared to the 24 the team logged in the 99-90 loss.

As a playmaker, Odom found Trevor Ariza for a dunk, but seemed a step slow getting back on defense.

"It's all right for him to push the basketball, but then he's also got to turn around defensively and guard a much smaller, quicker ballplayer," Rambis said. "He's got to be able to adjust to that."

Asked about his point total, Odom laughed.

"Nobody won a scoring title the first game of the year," he said.

Odom later shrugged off the game in general.

"First preseason game," he said. "We've got a lot more to go. Bad game, good game, whatever, that's all it is -- first game."

Jackson in action

Jackson was back at practice Wednesday after experiencing soreness and swelling in his legs that caused him to be absent from Tuesday's game.