April 28th, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Before Monday night’s game between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers, site editor Jeff Sack and I were discussing what lineup tweaking the Lakers should do if they expect to go to the NBA Finals; he and I came to the conclusion that Andrew Bynum should come off the bench and that Lamar Odom should start at forward.
I swear Phil Jackson didn’t call either one of us, but he did indeed insert Odom into the starting lineup; the results were good as he and Kobe Bryant combined for 57 points in leading Los Angeles past Utah 107-96 and advancing to the second round, where they will meet the winner of the Portland-Houston series.
By late in the third quarter, the Lakers were cruising as Bryant made a layup, hit a 3-pointer and fed Gasol an assist for a dunk. As a result, Los Angeles was up 80-58; Utah cut the Lakers’ lead to 93-86 with 4:37 left in the game Bryant hit a jumper and Odom dunked to fend off a late Jazz run. The Lakers would hold on for the win.
Los Angeles’ high scorer was Bryant with 31 points (including three 3-pointers), 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and a block while Odom added 26 with 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks; Pau Gasol chipped in 17 with 11 rebounds and 4 assists.
Utah was led by Paul Millsap with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while Andrei Kirilenko and Deron Williams added 14 each – with Kirilenko dishing out an assist along with 4 steals while Williams grabbed 2 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Los Angeles will get a much-needed rest as they wait to host the winner of the Portland-Houston series.
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