Lamar Odom notched his first Laker triple-double, becoming just the eighth Laker to ever accomplish the feat.
Coincidentally, Shaquille O'Neal (who never got a triple-double as a Laker) also hit the mark Tuesday night with the Miami Heat. O'Neal scored 15 points, dished 10 assists and collected 11 rebounds for the Heat's 51st win.
The Lakers at 42-37 haven't been higher than five games over .500 since O'Neal was on the squad. Still, Miami to date have just nine more victories than LA. Considering the notion that the Heat are considered title contenders while the Lakers are hardly considered by many to be a significant playoff threat . . . shouldn't there be a bigger gap than nine wins?
Add in the fact that the Heat play in a conference that has just four teams currently over .500 while the Lakers in the Western Conference have eight . . . wouldn't that mean that Miami plays more games against lesser competition?
Another interesting stat, the Heat are just 2-14 combined against the division winners\top teams (Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, New Jersey Nets, Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks). The Lakers against the same group are 6-11.
To date the O'Neal trade coupled with the Boston Celtic trade that same summer has amounted to the following active Lakers and draft picks:
Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton, a retiring Rick Fox and the Lakers' 2006 first-round pick for Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm, the Heat's 2006 first-round draft pick and a future Heat second-rounder. Payton would eventually sign with the Heat as a free agent.
A quick snapshot of the stats Tuesday night:
O'Neal and Payton combined: 30 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists and a block.
Mihm is out with injury (expected back Sunday despite still feeling pain in the ankle), but the Odom\Brown pairing yielded: 30 points, 28 rebounds, 12 assists and two blocks.
The Lakers have not been the same without O'Neal the last couple of seasons, but they may not be as far behind as thought. Losing one of the best players of all time is certainly a setback, but it was a move that Laker owner Dr. Jerry Buss felt compelled to make for the long-term health of the organization.
The Heat may very well go further than the Lakers this post-season, but with all the talent to go with the hype, aren't they supposed to?
The Lakers may have a tough challenge against Phoenix in the first round considering the Lakers have lost all three so far against the Suns this season. Sunday's game in LA against Phoenix is the first the Lakers will play that is not the second night of a back-to-back. It should be a more accurate gauge of the Lakers' chances come post season.
