Odom Sparks Lakers in Rout

Lakers 101, Spurs 71

LOS ANGELES, May 23 -- In one cat-quick motion, Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom caught a pass inside from Derek Fisher, spun around San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan and avoided having his shot blocked with an awkward twisting shot. A few minutes later, Odom nearly yanked down the rim with a two-handed dunk, screaming and smiling as he came down.

Odom pinned a layup attempt by Tony Parker against the glass. Then, Odom elevated to contest a Robert Horry shot on the Spurs' next possession, swatting the ball into the front row at Staples Center.

The 6-foot-10 Odom scored, grabbed rebounds, protected the rim and showcased his wide-ranging skills during a third-quarter display that freed Kobe Bryant of having to perform any late-game heroics against the Spurs on Friday night. Bryant again led the Lakers with 22 points, but Odom added 20 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots as their team took a commanding 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven series with a 101-71 victory over San Antonio.

"I get in the game, it seems like my team gets into it," Odom said after recording 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots during a third quarter in which the Lakers extended a nine-point first-half lead to 17 points. They remain undefeated at home this postseason at 7-0.

"We can't get too high on ourselves," Odom said. "This is a team of champions, and we have to stay focused . . . stay mentally prepared."

The Spurs came back from an 0-2 deficit for the first time in franchise history to defeat the New Orleans Hornets in the conference semifinals, but in order to come back against the Lakers, they will have to summon more than just their championship experience. They will have to make shots.

The Lakers shot 54.9 percent from the field and held the Spurs to just 34.5 percent shooting. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili combined for just 32 points on 14-for-37 shooting (37.8 percent).

Five players scored in double figures for the Lakers, including reserve point guard Jordan Farmar, who had 14 points and energized the crowd with an exciting blocked shot in which he tracked down the Spurs' Ime Udoke for what should have been an easy layup. "I was able to give us a play to give us some momentum. When I get the chance, I have [the hops]," Farmar said.

Farmar hit a three-pointer from the top of the key that gave the Lakers an 81-60 lead with 7 minutes 44 seconds remaining and Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich pulled his starters from the game and started preparing for the flight back home.

"Being out of gas had somewhat of an effect," Popovich said about his team, which was playing its third game in five days. "But not as much as the good play of the Lakers. We definitely have to have more people playing better to get this done."

Popovich said before Game 2 that there would be no residual effects from blowing a 20-point lead with 18 minutes remaining in Game 1. But the greater concern for the Spurs was Ginóbili's health.

Ginóbili, the Spurs' leading scorer in the regular season, has been playing with a sprained left ankle since the playoff opener against the Phoenix Suns and he lost the finger nail on the index finger of his left shooting hand against New Orleans.

Ginóbili admitted the day before that he is banged up, but he wasn't making any excuses afterward. "I know I played terrible. I believe that I can perform better, really help the team and be more me," he said. "We are 0-2. We should at least be 1-1, but that's how it is. So we got to really step up, especially starting with me."

Ginóbili is getting harassed by Lakers reserve Sasha Vujacic -- the nuisance who wears a Laker Girls headband to keep his hair in place -- but he was perhaps the most fatigued Spur following the seven-game series the Hornets. After Ginóbili went 3 for 13 for just 10 points in Game 1, Popovich contemplated holding Ginóbili out of Game 2, but decided to move the sixth man of the year back to the bench and start Michael Finley at small forward.

Ginóbili again looked tired. He went scoreless in the first half and finished the game with just seven points.

With Ginóbili struggling, the Spurs leaned too heavily on Parker (13 points) and Duncan (12 points, 16 rebounds), but they could do little with the Lakers' swarming defense.

"We enjoy playing defense. We enjoy getting after it," said Bryant, who was more aggressive on Friday after taking just three shots in the first half of Game 1. He scored 13 points on 11 field goal attempts in the first, but he helped start a 9-0 run to close out the half with his passing, handing out two of his team-high five assists.

"I hope the best is yet to come," Odom said. "Right now, we have a mentality that we are striving for perfection. We feel like we can play better or we are going to have to play better to get to where we want to go. We have to have a game where there is no mistakes, and there is no turnovers, we all make free throws so we can accomplish the mission that we have at hand."

Box score, E4