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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: NUGGETS v LAKERS

May 27, 2009

Lamar Odom

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Five

Los Angeles Â– 103
Denver - 94

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What felt right about your game tonight that you hadn't felt before since you got hurt?
LAMAR ODOM: My jacket (laughter).
I just took my time. I tried to make my moves with two hands on the ball and get at the basket, go to the rim and just be aggressive, rebound, defend.
Just try to play a complete basketball game, but I had my mindset whenever I started I was going to finish. And I was able to be productive.

Q. Speaking of going to the rim, you had a few times over the last couple of games where you tried to finish at the rim and you would fall short or get blocked. Late in this game seemed like you made a concerted effort to dunk the ball?
LAMAR ODOM: Yeah. That was the mindset is to get fouled. Usually when you try to dunk the basketball, even if you miss the dunk you get the foul call, and that was definitely my mindset was to finish with force and try to go over the top.

Q. It seemed like your shots were just rimming out and you just couldn't get the fall, then you went up with a lefty dunk. First of all, in that moment were you thinking after you dunked it out and it came, did you feel the pain or were you caught up in the moment and you were actually uplifted from it?
LAMAR ODOM: You know, I won't make no excuse about playing well or not playing well. If my back is hurt or isn't hurt, I'm just going to go out there and give it 100 percent.
In that time, in that moment you're caught up in the game. Sometimes aggression just comes out and it came out with a scream after that dunk.

Q. You held Denver down to 18 points in the fourth period. What did you guys do differently in the fourth period?
LAMAR ODOM: The communication. No second chances. No second-chance opportunities. That really helped us.
Executed on offense. Took good shots. They didn't have any fast breaks, I don't think. In the fourth quarter, especially. We kept them off the break. Kept them off the free-throw line as well.

Q. Did you feel that they had taken away your inside game and you guys needed to reclaim it?
LAMAR ODOM: They do a good job at overloading, doubling down, getting back to their man. Today we wanted to get the ball to Pau or Kobe and score in position and make plays off of them. Cut to the rim and the basket and get easy looks, and we were able to do that tonight.

Q. Did you actually feel better tonight or did you just look like you felt better?
LAMAR ODOM: I just looked like it. I had to suck it up. Couldn't pick the paper up anymore. Didn't want to answer the phone. Couldn't watch ESPN. Couldn't watch TV for a little bit, right?
I took it like a man. I just had to -- this is my tenth season. Game 6. I haven't been playing well. My back's just to the wall. Put my focus cap on. Came out and just went after it.

Q. You played with torn labrums before. Where does this compare to that kind of pain?
LAMAR ODOM: This is basketball. The back is the core of your body. We can't do anything without using your back. Like I said, I'm out there. And I continue getting treatment and just gutting it out.

Q. The last time you guys were in Denver they were a lot more -- they seemed to be a lot more energetic than you guys were. How do you maintain this intensity to make sure that it's there?
LAMAR ODOM: I wish we could bring our fans with us, right? Of course, we can't. Certain mindset. Disposition that we have to bring with us. We have to go in and be really focused and try to take the crowd out of the game early. And I think we can do that.

Q. What would you say about -- how would you assess the team's offensive and defensive performance tonight to get this win?
LAMAR ODOM: A grade? You want a grade (laughter)?
I think this was one of our best games. We were down seven at the end of the third. I think this is one of our best games that we played this year, as far as a team effort, as far as a complete effort from everyone, Andrew getting involved, myself. Pau making plays. Of course Kobe making plays. Getting something from Shannon off the bench was big.
Using everything we had to win a basketball game. I think it's one of the best games of the year.

Q. You said before you didn't want to make any excuses. I get that. But were you conscious of trying to set kind of an emotional tone for this group to raise that level a bit?
LAMAR ODOM: I get a lot of support from my teammates, from Kobe and Derek and Pau and Phil as well. It seems like we get a little spark when I play well. And tonight I just came in. I just wanted to give it everything I got, whether the ball went in or not. It just happened to go in. It just happened to have numbers at the end of my rebounds, with 14 rebounds or whatever, and get some blocked shots and some assists.
Things just went my way tonight. But I just tried to pick up my effort, energy, and I guess sometimes when you do that, sometimes it spreads, right.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Lamar.

End of FastScripts

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