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There were signs on Lamar Odom's body that he had come to work.
He had three bandages covering three different wounds on his right arm, from his bicep to his forearm.
Odom had played 40 minutes and produced a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds in the Lakers' season-opening victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
His workload was heavy and it showed.
"I've got a couple of rips on my arm," Odom said. "What are you going to do? That's part of it."
Odom stepped in as the starting power forward because Pau Gasol was out with a strained right hamstring.
That may change if Gasol comes back Friday night when the Lakers host the Dallas Mavericks. To be sure, at some point during the season, Odom will be back on the bench.
In any case, Odom said he's more than willing to deliver for the Lakers.
"The strength to my game is that I'm able to do it and I'm prepared at all times," Odom said. "Right now, mentally, physically, I'm prepared to do what I have to do to help this team.
"A lot of minutes, short minutes. Dive, rebound, score, make plays on the first unit or second unit. My objective at this point in my career is to win."
It was his play in the fourth quarter that helped the Lakers put away the Clippers.
Odom had half of his 16 points in that period.
Odom scored on a layup while being fouled and madethe free throw to increase the Lakers' lead to five points.
He tipped in a shot later in the fourth to push the Lakers' lead to nine.
After the Clippers closed to within seven points, Odom made a three-pointer for a 10-point Lakers lead that stood.
He finished the game six-for-13 from the field, two-for-five from three-point range.
Odom also had five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
"He started off very ragged," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "I thought he threw the ball away a lot. We just had to settle him down."
It was quite a night for the Lakers and Odom, who did his work in front of his new wife, Khloe Kardashian, a reality TV star.
He did his work in front of many Lakers legends that had come to celebrate with the team on winning the franchise's 15th championship.
"I was kind of in awe," Odom said. "I was caught up in the moment a little bit, in the parade as well. Today we realized what we accomplished. I'm really proud of the company that we're in now. I got a banner that I'm a part of. It feels good."
broderick.turner@latimes.com
twitter.com/BA_Turner
He had three bandages covering three different wounds on his right arm, from his bicep to his forearm.
Odom had played 40 minutes and produced a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds in the Lakers' season-opening victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
His workload was heavy and it showed.
"I've got a couple of rips on my arm," Odom said. "What are you going to do? That's part of it."
Odom stepped in as the starting power forward because Pau Gasol was out with a strained right hamstring.
That may change if Gasol comes back Friday night when the Lakers host the Dallas Mavericks. To be sure, at some point during the season, Odom will be back on the bench.
In any case, Odom said he's more than willing to deliver for the Lakers.
"The strength to my game is that I'm able to do it and I'm prepared at all times," Odom said. "Right now, mentally, physically, I'm prepared to do what I have to do to help this team.
"A lot of minutes, short minutes. Dive, rebound, score, make plays on the first unit or second unit. My objective at this point in my career is to win."
It was his play in the fourth quarter that helped the Lakers put away the Clippers.
Odom had half of his 16 points in that period.
Odom scored on a layup while being fouled and madethe free throw to increase the Lakers' lead to five points.
He tipped in a shot later in the fourth to push the Lakers' lead to nine.
After the Clippers closed to within seven points, Odom made a three-pointer for a 10-point Lakers lead that stood.
He finished the game six-for-13 from the field, two-for-five from three-point range.
Odom also had five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
"He started off very ragged," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "I thought he threw the ball away a lot. We just had to settle him down."
It was quite a night for the Lakers and Odom, who did his work in front of his new wife, Khloe Kardashian, a reality TV star.
He did his work in front of many Lakers legends that had come to celebrate with the team on winning the franchise's 15th championship.
"I was kind of in awe," Odom said. "I was caught up in the moment a little bit, in the parade as well. Today we realized what we accomplished. I'm really proud of the company that we're in now. I got a banner that I'm a part of. It feels good."
broderick.turner@latimes.com
twitter.com/BA_Turner
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