Empty the Bench

By: Zachariah Blott

Odom and Gasol put Lakers on their backs: Kobe Bryant rested his injuries the week before All-Star Weekend, and the Lakers had the daunting tasking of facing three Western Conference teams on track for the playoffs: in Portland where they haven’t won in 5 years, the always tough Spurs, and in Utah against a team on a 9-game win streak. All three turned out to be easy LA victories because Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom shined big time in expanded roles.

Odom had been averaging 8 shots over 31 minutes per, but in those three games he averaged 36 minutes, 10 shots, 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 assists per. Gasol was averaging 12 shots over 36 minutes per, but during this span he averaged 42 minutes, 16 shots, 19 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 5 assists.

This shouldn’t be a huge surprise after last year’s championship run: Gasol single-handedly neutralized the great frontcourts of Orlando and Denver, and Odom was their most consistently brilliant 4th quarter and overtime player.

Cover Grandma’s eyes, Durant is streaking: This streak of Kevin Durant’s has gone on so long that a) I don’t need to mention it, but b) it’s starting to be embarrassing that I haven’t mentioned it. So in case you didn’t hear, Oklahoma City’s Durant has 25 straight games with 25 points or more. This is the longest such streak since Allen Iverson did it in 27 straight back in 2000-01. So how long could it go? San Antonio is the only team I see before the end of February (that’s 7 more) that is a likely candidate to end it, but they’ve been slumping and he already took the Spurs for 35 during this stretch.

You want intangibles? Look to the Moon: First, the no-crap part of this blurb: Cleveland beat New Jersey on Tuesday. James had 32 and 11, yadda yadda. But it gets weird when you look at the plus-minus for the players. The Nets starters crushed the Cavs starters; 4 of 5 NJ starters (which does not include an injured Devin Harris) were at +10 or above, while Shaq was the only Cav in the positive at +3. Cleveland reserve forward Jamario Moon, however, had a way-above-everyone +23 in 19 minutes. The athletic aerial artist did almost nothing in the boxscore (5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals), but I’m guessing his defense and hustle had something to do with Jersey’s pitiful bench production: 9 points on 12 shots, 5 rebounds, 9 fouls.

Because it needs to be said: I’m disappointed in Derrick Rose’s decision to skip the Rookie Challenge (before the hip injury). I understand he doesn’t want to be the first player ever to participate in all three days of the All-Star Weekend (Rookie Challenge is Friday, Skills Challenge is Saturday, All-Star Game is Sunday), but he’s only looking at about 40 lackadaisical minutes of game time between the two contests, and the Skills Challenge course takes 30 seconds.

Two years ago, Brandon Roy played 25 minutes in the Rookie Challenge before logging West highs of 29 minutes and 18 points in the All-Star Game. In 2005, LeBron James played 27 minutes in the Rookie Challenge before another 31 in the actual game. I hope Rose’s big timing of the Rookie Challenge doesn’t become a trend for young stars who are asked to double-dip over the weekend.

Zachariah Blott cannot recommend Rick Telander’s “Heaven Is A Playground” enough.

Lamar Odom Photo Credit: Icon SMI

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