Second unit needs direction

So much of the recent emphasis by the Lakers’ coaching staff has been on the poor play of the team’s second unit, how it has surrendered big leads, how it has been selfish and how it has been shot-happy.

Lamar Odom, a member of that second unit, conceded after practice Monday that the reserves haven’t always played basketball the right way.

“It’s obvious,” Odom said. “We’ve been giving up leads. We’re much better than that. . . . We’re not making the game easier for each other.”

For that to change, Coach Phil Jackson has placed the responsibility on Odom to calm down what Jackson called some “wild guys out there.”

Odom said he could do the job and then explained how.

“Use my New York approach of dealing with people, which is do it right now or I’ll put you in cement boots,” Odom said, laughing. “No, we just have to police each other, as far as our approach to the game, our demeanor. It’s not going to always be a [good] night offensively. That’s what we have to understand.”

The Lakers have allowed at least 32 points in the fourth quarters of their last four games, much of it coming on the shoulders of the second unit.

Jackson has figured out how he can stop that from happening when the reserves are on the floor, when they let the momentum shift because of inefficient play. “Play our starters,” he said, deadpan.

He did that Sunday night in the Lakers’ win over Milwaukee, putting in starters Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum at the start of the fourth quarter with reserves Odom, Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar.

Odom said the second unit has to stop looking for its shots right away.

“We can’t worry about that, especially that second unit,” Odom said. “It’s not about shooting the ball. That’s not good basketball all the time. It’s not like, ‘I took 15 shots. I played well.’ It’s not about that, not for the second unit.”

Odom talked about how Bryant, Pau Gasol and Bynum get the bulk of the shots on the team.

“It’s just our job to play basketball the right way, man,” Odom said. “We’ll score.”

Old rivals

The Lakers and Sacramento Kings produced magical, intense, entertaining games earlier this decade.

It used to be one of the NBA’s best rivalries.

Now the Lakers, who play at Sacramento tonight, own the Kings, having won eight of the last 10.

Despite that, Jackson sees something different in the Kings.

“I think they play harder than we do on the floor,” Jackson said. “We’ve won a majority of the games lately, but I was amazed at how hard they played. That’s a real indication of how much they really are after this rivalry [to] try to make a good game of it. I’m impressed with their energy on the court. We have to come out there and meet their energy.”

Etc.

Luke Walton, who was sent home before Sunday night’s game because of an upper-respiratory infection, practiced Monday and flew with the team to Sacramento.

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Lakers tonight

AT SACRAMENTO

Time: 7.

On the air: TV: Channel 9; Radio: 570, 1330.

Where: Arco Arena.

Records: Lakers 17-2, Kings 5-16.

Record vs. Kings: 1-0.

Update: The Lakers may have won eight of the last 10 games against the Kings, but they know Sacramento still plays a tough game. Last month at Staples Center the Lakers barely got by the Kings (118-108), who were missing two starters and their sixth man. Kings starting guard Kevin Martin, who missed 12 games including the one against the Lakers because of a sprained left ankle, has played in Sacramento’s last two games. The Kings have lost eight consecutive games.

-- Broderick Turner