Clippers’ Lamar Odom begins to earn the trust

SALT LAKE CITY — Slowly, Lamar Odom is beginning to show signs of his old self.

He scored a season-high seven points on three-for-five shooting and had six rebounds, four of them on offense, in the Clippers’ 105-104 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Odom was at his best in the fourth quarter, when he scored five of his points and had four of his rebounds.

“Slowly but surely, it’s coming,” Odom said. “I’ve just got to keep taking my time. I’m getting better in practice. All I can do is keep plugging away game by game.”

Odom had a three-point play in the fourth quarter that pulled the Clippers to within three points. He later scored to keep the Clippers within striking distance.

Even with the game on the line, Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro used Odom to inbound the basketball, showing how much trust he has in Odom.

“He was active,” Del Negro said. “He’s starting to get his timing back. It’s going to take some time, but he’s a weapon out there for us and he’s only going to get better with time.”

Crawford, the free-throw king

By making two free throws with 5:38 left in the second quarter, Jamal Crawford broke the Clippers’ franchise record for consecutive free throws made. Crawford now has made 48 consecutive free throws.

Crawford broke the record that was set by Mark Jackson (44) in 1993.

“That’s crazy,” Crawford said. “I had no clue.”

Crawford made all four of his free throws against the Utah Jazz, two with 5.7 seconds remaining that gave the Clippers a 105-101 lead.

He has missed just four free throws (69 for 73) all season.

Crawford, an 85.4% free-throw shooter over his 12-year career, is second in the NBA in free-throw accuracy at 94.5%.

“I just try to do what’s right,” Crawford said. “The team believes in me.”

Winning on the road

The Clippers went 1-3 on their last trip, but they all know that the best NBA teams want to go at least .500 on the road.

After beating the Jazz, the Clippers improved to 4-3 on the road this season.

“I feel we have a pretty veteran team that we should be pretty consistent on the road,” Del Negro said.

“I feel strongly about that. I think our guys enjoy the challenge of playing on the road.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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