Hooped Up

Is Lamar Odom hooking up with Heroes star Hayden Panettiere?  Well according to The Insider, Odom and Panettiere exchanged math and were diggin’ each other at the Palladium opening in Hollywood, California.  

“She seemed thrilled to see Lamar and flirted up a storm with him. He spent much of their chat almost bent double, so he could hear what she was saying. I thought she was dating Milo Ventimiglia, but that didn’t seem to stop her exchanging numbers with Lamar. He seemed very fond of her.”

Scenes with her boyfriend Milo Ventimiglia also on Heroes just got awkward.

If Lamar Odom has his way, he’ll finish his career in purple and gold. The veteran forward knows the Lakers may not be able to offer market value when his contract expires after the season, but on Monday he said he hopes to sign a long-term deal with LA next summer, perhaps even if it means turning down a more lucrative offer elsewhere. “If I could finish here, I would,” Odom said. “It’s funny because “Rich Soil” is one of the names of my companies. LA is definitely rich soil, the Lakers are definitely rich soil, and I’m one of the branches.” 

Press Enterprise

If the Lamar Odom point guard experiment moves into the regular season, this could be a wicked advantage for the Lakers at the PG spot and make Lamar Odom a serious triple double threat overnight.  

“Forget about that Lakers frontline of Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol andAndrew Bynum. Odom has been shifted to ball-handling guard, part of an experiment conducted by Coach Phil Jackson in a monthlong petri dish called exhibition season. Odom, who has already clashed with Jackson in training camp, has brought the ball up court for the Lakers in their first two days of practice. Derek Fisher has shifted to a shooting-guard role on offense andKobe Bryant has moved to small forward.”

Los Angeles Times

With a payroll of approximately $70 million that is nearing the league’s luxury tax threshold of $71.15 million, the Kings officially ended their free-agent shopping. The last potential order of business is the future of Ron Artest, the small forward who certainly could be traded before training camp. According to a league source, the Lakers already have contacted the Kings regarding Artest and are believed to be offering forward Lamar Odom. As of Tuesday evening, the Kings had not returned the call. They are expected to insist on forward Kenny Thomas and his $18 million of remaining salary (over two seasons) being included in that potential trade. Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie declined comment on whether the Lakers had called. 

Sacramento Bee 

As the Lakers look to make some changed to keep Kobe happy get back to the NBA Finals, could Shawn Marion be an option in LA?

Miami’s Shawn Marion would address some of those defensive concerns. He might also be a better fit than Odom when the Lakers start Bynum at center and Pau Gasol at power forward. While their contracts don’t exactly match up (Marion makes $17 million next season and Odom is at $14.6 mil), a package deal involving those two players might work. They’re both entering the final season of their contracts.

NY Daily News

After a sub par playoff performance, Lamar Odom might be back on the block again.  Will Vladimir Radmonovic be a better fit starting with Andrew Bynum back is the question.

The issue now is making the pieces fit with one problem position, small forward . . . where Odom would have to go with Bynum at center and Gasol at power forward.

Jackson wants a shooter there badly enough to start his favorite Martian, Vladimir Radmanovic.The weakest part of Odom’s game is shooting, a problem that came home to roost with Garnett backing off him.

Then there’s Odom’s $14-million salary, as the Lakers assume as much as $90 million in additional salary and luxury tax over the next three seasons with Gasol.

However, from the day they made the trade, the Lakers never thought they would end up paying that much, suggesting they were already thinking of moving Odom.

LA Times

In a crazy series things went nuts again, as the Lakers hung on for a unlikely 98 - 103 win last night. The Lakers jumped on the Celtics early, leading by as much as 19 points again before the Celtics closed in at the half. Both teams were very sloppy combining for 35 turnovers.

Kobe Bryant finshed with 25 points followed by Lamar Odom who had another strong game posting 25 points and 11 rebounds. Paul Pierce had a great game leading the Celtics with 38 points and 8 assists in a losing effort that saw him go 16 - 19 from the line.

Down the strech the Lakers got very lucky and the Celtics couldn’t exicute missing key free throws and turnovers. Not to mention Doc Rivers had several miss cues in the roation he had on the floor, in the dying moments in the game.

The stage is now set for a game six in Boston for either the Celtics to close out the series. Or the Lakers to force a game 7 Tuesday night. No team has ever come back down three games to one in a series to win.

Hooped Up

Maybe the worst playoff collapse in Lakers history, or the best playoff comeback in Celtics history.  Take your pick. Either way, the Celtics were down by 18 at the half and at one point down by a 24 point margin to the Lakers.  Despite that the Celtics clawed back into the game and pulled out a 97 - 91 victory.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 20 points, while Ray Allen  was a key factor down the stretch with 19 points. Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 19 points while Kobe Bryant had 17 points and shot an abismal 6 - 19 from the field.

 The Celtics now only need only one more win for the series an will have a chance Sunday night at the Staples Center.

Well the chance of a sweep is gone as the Lakers won game three in the Staples Center on Tuesday 81 -87. It wasn’t as much that the Lakers won the game as the Celtics gave them the game. Kobe Bryant scored an efficient 36 points and had Ray Allen looking like he was on skates all night.  Sasha Vujucic was on fire all night for a playoff high of 20 points.

The Celtics for the most part with the exception of Ray Allen offensively two thirds of the big three could not hit anything. Kevin Garnett was 6-21 from the field for 13 points, and Paul Pierce was 2-14 from the field for 6 points.

Despite this woeful shooting the Celtics remained close right to the end, and still had a chance to win as the fourth quarter came to  the final whistle.

If the Celtics forget to show up tonight look for the series to be knotted at two a piece tonight.