Lamar Odom to Start in Game 3 of Lakers-Mavs Series

Lamar Odom will be starting for Los Angeles in Game 3 of the Lakers-Mavericks series. Odom is being asked to step up and replace the suspended Ron Artest in the starting lineup, and he will be tasked with helping this team recover from two straight losses. The Lakers are in the unenviable position of having a must-win game on the road, but playing terrible basketball so far in this series has yielded this result.

ESPN reported Friday that Odom would be inserted in the starting lineup. There had been debate about who would get the call; one of the other choices was Shannon Brown. By going with Odom in the small forward slot, the Lakers will be presenting a huge front line to try to put a stop to the way the Dallas Mavericks have handled them in the first two games of the series. Now if Odom can emerge from Game 3 with a double-double, the Lakers may be in a great position to get back in the series.

As reported on YCN yesterday, Artest was suspended for an altercation at the end of Game 2 Wednesday. He was called for a flagrant foul and ejected from the game, and later found out that he would be banned from Game 3 for the unacceptable nature of his foul. Artest put his teammates in a much tougher situation for the rest of the series, and the selfishness of his actions could end up having severe repercussions.

The Lakers lost both Game 1 and Game 2 of the series on their own home court, and will now be forced to win at least two games on the road if they want to take this series. It's a new challenge for the two-time defending NBA champions, and they are going to have a hard time returning to the Finals for the fourth straight year. That is something which hasn't been done since the Boston Celtics did it in 1987, and could put this team in rare company that doesn't even include the Chicago Bulls.

Game 3 of the Lakers-Mavs series will be on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. PT Friday. Odom will be tasked with stopping Shawn Marion on defense while also helping to spread the floor on offense. He isn't new to a starting role; during the regular season, he did start 35 games for the Lakers. Having his role changed in the playoffs might be a bit different, though, because he will have to make up for the loss of Artest. The bigger problem for the Lakers will be trying to keep the game close with a depleted bench.

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