Lamar Odom

— Everyone, it seems, wants Lamar Odom to score more. His Clippers teammates encourage Odom to be more aggressive on offense. Fans, the media and his critics want Odom to stop being so passive on offense. But Coach Vinny Del Negro said he doesn't really have an issue with Odom's lack of offense because his versatile forward supplies so much more. "I've talked to Lamar about that," Del Negro said. "He understands that. Lamar has to pick his spots out there where he's comfortable at. He's doing a good job in a lot of areas for us. But when he's open, he's got to make shots for us and make plays off the dribble and get to the rim. " Odom had only four points against Philadelphia on Monday night.

The Clippers filled one of their pressing needs to secure a talented big man when they acquired Lamar Odom from the Dallas Mavericks in a four-team trade that sent guard Mo Williams to the Utah Jazz on Friday. After Williams exercised his $8.5-million player option for next season, the Clippers and Mavericks were able to conclude the deal to send Odom back to the Clippers, the team that drafted him in 1999. With the versatile 6-foot-10 Odom, the Clippers have a backup big man to play behind power forward Blake Griffin and center DeAndre Jordan.

A new kind of Mav-wreck It was a week that packed enough drama for a season's worth of episodes on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" - or "Jersey Shore," for that matter. There were confrontations, finger-pointing and plenty of regrets, all involving one Lamar Joseph Odom. It started with the infamous locker-room clash last weekend between Odom and his boss, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who reportedly asked his mopey, underachieving forward whether he wanted "to go for it or not?"

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Clippers' biggest sweetheart needs to get nastier. Drive to the basket as if his defender has just made a Kardashian joke. Use his superior length to bury teams under a flurry of floaters. Stop passing up shots instead of always passing. Lamar Odom, get assertive. A prolific scorer as recently as two seasons ago, the veteran forward is now as likely to reach double figures in points as end-of-the-bench reserve Ryan Hollins. They have each done it once this season.

The string of memorable games for Lamar Odom finally came to an end. The Lakers' reserve forward had 11 points and only two rebounds and one assist in 32 minutes of Game 3 of the NBA Finals. He was a main factor as the Lakers took the first two games against Orlando, but he didn't have much of an impact Tuesday in the Lakers' 108-104 loss.

So much of the script was new and unusual, as if it had been ripped apart during a tumultuous writers' meeting. But there remained a solitary constant. Kobe Bryant again unfurled a memorable fourth quarter, scoring 13 points and putting a final dent in the Houston Rockets with a late, long three-pointer in a 105-100 victory Tuesday at Toyota Center. Bryant had been shooting poorly, to say the least, but there he was with 27.

Already reeling from their worst loss of the season in Portland on Monday, the Lakers suffered another blow Tuesday when the NBA suspended Lamar Odom for one game without pay for leaving the bench area during a scuffle in the third quarter. Odom will miss tonight's game against the Houston Rockets and the suspension will cost him about $104,000.

Lamar Odom, agenda-setter? Indeed, the Lakers forward listened to what he told reporters after Saturday's practice, fully buying into his pledge to throw more muscle Sunday at the Denver Nuggets, expecting a "hard" game and following through successfully with a victory. All he did was score 20 points and collect 12 rebounds and four steals in the Lakers' 95-89 victory. "I told myself I was going to play with two hands on the ball," he said. "I'm going to try to play like a power forward.

Reporting from Indianapolis Lamar Odom is still a starter, but not much longer. Even though the Lakers are more up-tempo with Odom instead of Andrew Bynum , Coach Phil Jackson is enticed by the size of a starting frontcourt with Bynum and fellow 7-footer Pau Gasol . It might be a couple of weeks before Bynum regains his starting spot, but it will happen, Jackson said Wednesday. "We want Andrew to be in the starting lineup and give us that impact, that size that sometimes is imposing on other teams," Jackson said.

The Dallas Mavericks and Lamar Odom have parted ways. The NBA's reigning sixth man of the year and the defending NBA champions who are trying to make sure they get back to the playoffs made it clear Monday that their partnership is over after an underwhelming 50-game stint. "We've got to be able to look down that bench and count on folks to be consistent," General Manager Donnie Nelson said. "Unfortunately, with him in his state right now, he's just not capable of doing that.