Odom Straightens Out Flare-Up With Coach

On the day that Kobe Bryant walked without crutches for the first time since sustaining a severely sprained ankle, the Lakers talked about mending of another kind.

Bryant’s right ankle is slowly improving, although his return is still expected in weeks, not days, leaving Laker discussions Thursday at practice to those who are healthy, specifically Lamar Odom.

The Lakers had a foul to give in the final few seconds of the first quarter Wednesday against Minnesota, and Odom was told to foul guard Troy Hudson.

The problem: Odom picked up a second foul, rendering him all but useless until after halftime.

He walked to the bench and had words with Laker Coach Rudy Tomjanovich. They both said Thursday afternoon that the problem had been straightened out.

“It was just a disagreement, but gentlemen disagree,” Odom said. “Obviously, I should have been a little bit more aware of the situation because I had a foul already and there’s no way I should be taking a foul, but I was also doing what my coach asked.

“We just didn’t get things clear and I took the foul and came over to the bench and realized I had two fouls. I was upset. No one was wrong, no one was right.

“A situation like that, people raise their voice and don’t mean anything by it. Coach is always right, anyway.”

Said Tomjanovich: “We’re OK with it. It was a lack of communication. You work on it, you get better from it.”

Odom’s foul troubles were part of the reason he had only five points until the final six minutes of the game.

He finished with 11 points, six of them the result of one-on-one exchanges with Kevin Garnett in the fourth quarter.

*

Odom used to be one of the up-and-coming kids on the block, but he was replaced in the record books Wednesday by Cleveland’s LeBron James, who became the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double.

James, who turned 20 on Dec. 30, had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Portland. He was 34 days younger than a 20-year-old Odom was when he got his first triple-double for the Clippers against Houston in 1999.

Odom, 25, didn’t even know he held the record until he was told about it by his trainer, Robbie Davis.

“One little stat in the league that I had, they took it away from me,” Odom said dryly. “It’s cool. LeBron’s my guy.”

*

Chris Mihm’s playing time dwindled as the Lakers went with smaller lineups late in their last two games.

“We get away from our team ball sometimes in isolation situations,” Mihm said. “It all comes down to playing together. The more I get comfortable with the guards, the more they get comfortable with me. We can really start working a high-low game and making my scoring in the post an impact all game long.”

TONIGHT

vs. Golden State, 7:30, FSN West

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KLAC (570); KWKW (1330).

Records -- Lakers 21-16; Warriors 12-27.

Record vs. Warriors -- 2-0.

Update -- The Warriors had lost nine consecutive games until shooting guard Jason Richardson returned Monday and had 42 points in a 107-97 victory over Denver. Odom’s layup with 1.3 seconds left gave the Lakers a 104-102 victory over the Warriors on Saturday.