Phil Jackson tries to fire up Lamar Odom; Andrew Bynum has knee drained
Phil Jackson isn’t worried about his injured players. He’s concerned about his healthy ones.
The condition of Andrew Bynum’s right knee won’t be fully known until Sunday, when the Lakers and Boston Celtics play Game 5 of an NBA Finals tied at 2-2, but there was apprehension about Lamar Odom and talk of an uninspired bench when the Lakers’ coach met with reporters Friday.
Jackson began zinging away on what was supposed to be a quiet day, with neither team practicing in the midst of a tense series.
Bynum, the Lakers’ center, had fluid drained from his knee Thursday night, the second time in as many weeks he has had the procedure done. He also had an MRI exam Friday in Boston that showed no further damage than the torn cartilage he sustained six weeks ago.
Odom seemed to be of great interest to Jackson. If the Lakers are to win Game 5, their sixth man will have to be better than he was in their 96-89 loss Thursday.
Odom had 10 points, seven rebounds and five fouls in 39 minutes, none of which did much for Jackson. The Lakers were privately concerned about Odom matching up against Kevin Garnett coming into the Finals, but they never envisioned him getting beaten by Glen “Big Baby” Davis as often as he did.
Davis made seven of 10 shots and had 18 points in only 22 minutes of Game 4. It was shocking, in a very real sense, for Jackson, who was asked how he would jump-start Odom.
“I was thinking of an electrode, something that would really be a stimulus,” Jackson said. “He looked uncomfortable [Thursday] night and he got a couple double whammies to go against him, Garnett out there for a while and then he had Davis coming at him and things kind of snowballed on him.
“Lamar struggled two years ago in this series in this matchup, and he has to break through kind of that mental gap.”
Odom averaged 13.5 points and nine rebounds against Boston in a starting role in the 2008 NBA Finals, numbers the Lakers would take these days from a guy now averaging 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds through four Finals games.
So much is centered on Odom because he might move from the periphery to the innermost circle if Bynum is unable to give much in Game 5.
“I haven’t got any expectations,” said Jackson, though it sounded like Bynum would again try to play.
“Even with him dragging the leg around a little bit … Andrew still has the length and the strength to capture rebounds that we need,” Jackson said. “So we’ll use him if he’s available and able, but we’re certainly not going to put him in a situation that’s either going to hurt himself or the team.”
Bynum did not talk to reporters Friday but tried to sound optimistic after Game 4, saying he would “try to attack” in Game 5.
He averaged 13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots in the first three games of the Finals but had two points, three rebounds and no blocked shots in only 12 minutes Thursday.
Beyond Bynum, Jackson said Kobe Bryant looked fatigued in Game 4, and there was a coronation of sorts among some media members who dubbed Tony Allen the newest “Kobe stopper” for helping hold Bryant to five-for-14 shooting in the second half.
Celtics Coach Doc Rivers laughed at it.
“You guys are setting Tony up right now with all this ‘Kobe stopper’ stuff,” Rivers said. “There’s nobody, by the way, that’s stopping Kobe Bryant.”
Bryant had 33 points but also seven turnovers Thursday.
Jackson also wanted better production from his reserves, who haven’t handled the Celtics’ pressure, leading to a lack of ball movement and bad shot selection.
Josh Powell might get more playing time if Odom falters, Jackson said, though DJ Mbenga is pretty far down the depth chart after playing only nine minutes in the playoffs.
“DJ has lost a little bit in the process of not playing, and he needs that. But Josh Powell is ready to play,” Jackson said.
With all the talk of injuries, it was easy to forget the Lakers have the home-court advantage and, like the Celtics, are two victories away from a championship.
“To have the opportunity to do that is the gift,” Derek Fisher said. “We just have to open it.”
Times correspondent Mark Medina contributed to this report.
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