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Posted by Sekou Smith
PHOENIX – Suns star Amar’e Stoudemire could have called Lamar Odom whatever he wanted Sunday night.
Stoudemire would have needed GPS to find him, though, because the Lakers’ sixth man and X-factor in the first two games of the Western Conference finals was nowhere to be found at US Airways Center in Game 3.
There was only a shadow of the player that helped the Lakers dominate the Suns in Games 1 and 2, the player Stoudemire called “lucky” after Odom ransacked the Suns for a double-double in Game 1 and then did it again in Game 2.
The Odom that showed up for this one seemed out of sorts from the start (that’s him in the video above missing a rotation and getting beat for the layup), when he was pressed into service two minutes and 51 seconds into the game due to Andrew Bynum’s early foul trouble.
Even Lakers coach Phil Jackson struggled to explain Odom’s ugly night.
“I don’t know,” Jackson said. “He had, really a game he doesn’t want to remember. He wants to go home and forget about this one.”
The combined absence of both Odom (in spirit) and Bynum (in reality) cost the Lakers dearly in a game that was winnable if either man plays anywhere close to their normal selves. Instead, the Suns dominated the paint on offense. Stoudemire went berserk (42 points and 11 rebounds) and Robin Lopez had a career night (20 points).
Odom managed just 10 points and six rebounds before fouling out late, which wasn’t such bad thing after he made just four of his 14 shot attempts (0-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line) and turned the ball over three times in 35 minutes of action. Meanwhile, Bynum needed just a little over seven minutes to pick up four fouls and finish his night with just two points and two rebounds.
“Sometimes we play games like that,” Odom said. “And when me and Andrew don’t get going, it makes it kind of tough on us as far as scoring the ball is concerned. But our defense didn’t really adjust to the things that they did. They got to the free throw line way too many times. We did a good job of guarding the 3-point line but not the paint.”
When pressed about he and Bynum’s struggles in particular, the always even-keeled Odom wouldn’t bite.
“It’s one of those games,” he said. “It happens.”
The only problem is the Lakers can’t afford for it to happen again, not against the Suns’ frontline of Stoudemire and Lopez. As good as Pau Gasol is and has been throughout these playoffs, he won’t be able to fight them off alone (and there’s no need in even getting into the hypothetical conversation of how the Lakers would fare against Boston, provided they make it out of this round and into the NBA Finals for a third straight season against a Celtics team that leads Orlando 3-0).
They simply need Odom to return to the form he showed in Games 1 and 2, or something closely resembling that form. (This is the dilemma with Odom: he’s capable of the 19 and 19 he put up in Game 1 but he’s also more than capable of the no-show he pulled in Game 3.)
To his credit, Odom didn’t disparage Stoudemire after his big game (not that he’d have much to say after the way Stoudemire dominated the floor). He didn’t think it had anything to do with luck.
“He got it going and we let him go one on one a little too much,” Odom said of Stoudemire. “He’s a great one on one player, but we wanted to dig that ball out and make him give it up and have to shoot an outside shot. We played a little too much one on one, and he won that battle.”
If the Lakers want to win the next one, Ol’ Lucky has to at least show up for the fight.
