Lakers may be without Odom ’til All-Star break

The Los Angeles Lakers continued to try to keep up with the red-hot Phoenix Suns on Friday, defeating the New Jersey Nets on the road, 99-95. But as the Lakers head into their annual Christmas Day matchup with Miami, they got more bad news regarding Lamar Odom.

The Orange County Register reported that coach Phil Jackson said Odom’s sprained right knee could keep him out until the All-Star break. If so, Los Angeles would miss its second-leading scorer and leading rebounder for about two months - twice the original projection.
The Lakers are just 2-3 since Odom sprained the knee in a game at Houston on Dec. 12. They have fallen to second place in the Pacific Division, two losses behind the Suns. Phoenix had won 15 games in a row until losing in overtime to Washington on Friday night, 144-139. Gilbert Arenas scored 54 points in that game - the Lakers know well about Arenas. He scored 60 in an overtime win over Los Angeles last Sunday at the Staples Center.

Odom will definitely miss the Christmas matchup in Miami. It’s the third consecutive year the Lakers and Heat will play on Christmas Day - for some reason, television executives seem to like the idea of Kobe vs. Shaq for the holidays. However, Shaquille O’Neal will miss the game with his own knee injury.

Brian Cook and Vladimir Radmanovic have been getting the starts since Odom’s injury. Cook scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 17 minutes in the win over the Nets. Radmanovic had eight points and five rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.

Vladimir Radmanovic

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