LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Lamar Odom produced a solid performance to help the Los Angeles Lakers survive a ragged offensive outing in beating the Houston Rockets 88-79 on Tuesday.
Despite missing practice a day earlier through stomach pain, Odom filled in for the injured Pau Gasol and nearly posted a triple-double with 17 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists.
Center Andrew Bynum had a team-high 24 points and Kobe Bryant added 22, including several key fourth-quarter plays, as the defending NBA champions ground out a fourth straight win.
“The guy who was pretty sick and unable to practice for us ended up being the star of the game,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson told reporters.
“He had a terrific game. He knew we were at a deficit without Pau (Gasol).”
Carl Landry scored 19 points off the bench and Aaron Brooks chipped in 18 for the Rockets (20-15), who suffered a second straight defeat.
Trailing for a majority of the game, Houston rallied to reduce the deficit to just two points with 3:55 left but Bryant answered with an assist on a three-point play and a jumper before Bynum made a hook shot to push the lead back to 80-73.
All-Star forward Gasol missed the contest for Los Angeles (28-6) after straining his left hamstring in Sunday’s win against the Dallas Mavericks.
Gasol missed the season’s first 11 games with an injury to his right hamstring and will again be sidelined.
While playing without one starter, the Lakers welcomed back Ron Artest, who had missed the previous five games following a fall at his home over Christmas that resulted in a concussion and injured elbow.
Artest struggled to 3-for-11 shooting as did the rest of the offense that committed 20 turnovers with Bryant also struggling through a 9-for-23 shooting performance.
Houston again showed a knack for playing Los Angeles tough, having pushed the Lakers in a seven-game series last season in the Western Conference semi-finals.
“It’s always a fight as soon as the buzzer sounds (with the Rockets),” Odom said. “They play hard and we respect them.”
