At halftime it appeared that the Cleveland Cavaliers would coast to their 24^th consecutive home victory. With Kobe Bryant in the locker room vomiting and getting pumped with IVs, it seemed impossible that the Lakers could come back from their 61-51 deficit.

But the Lakers are no longer a one-man or even a two-man team. For the second game in a row against the two best teams in the Eastern Conference, Lamar Odom took over at both ends of the court.

In the third quarter alone, Odom scored 15 of the Lakers 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. That put the Lakers up 82-77. It was only the fourth time that the Cavaliers found themselves down at home going into the fourth quarter, and Cavalier fans were getting nervous.

Phil Jackson’s defensive scheme focused on keeping LeBron James out of the paint and making the other Cavaliers beat them. And that is exactly what Mo Williams, Wally Szczerbiak, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas set out to do.

It appeared as though Jackson’s plan had backfired in the first half because Williams, Szczerbiak, and Ilgauskas were doing all the damage while the Lakers had held James in check.

But when Odom rose to the occasion in the third quarter, and his frontcourt mate, Pau Gasol, took over the fourth, there was little that the Cavalier triio, which had dominated the first half, could do.

Cleveland just didn’t have an answer for Odom or Gasol, and the Lakers came away with a perfect 6-0 road trip and the best road record in the NBA 19-5 and the best overall record 41-9.

For the game, Odom led all scorers with 28 points and 17 rebounds. Pau Gasol had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, the flu-stricken Kobe Bryant managed just19 points in 35 minutes.

The Lakers defense held LeBron James to his second lowest point total of the season, 16, on 5 of 20 shooting. Ilgauskas was high for the Cavaliers with 22. Williams had 19. Szczerbiak, coming off the bench, had 16 points.

The Lakers now fly home and will meet Oklahoma City on Tuesday night at the Staples Center. They will be joined by two new teammates, Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown. The Charlotte Bobcats traded Morrison and Brown were to the Lakers for unhappy forward and three-point shooter, Vladimir Radmanovic.

Morrison was the third pick in the 2006 NBA draft. He had surgery last year on a torn ACL suffered in a game against the Lakers and has never quite returned to form.

Radmanovic had been openly disappointed when he was replaced in the starting lineup by Luke Walton and had become the forgotten man in the Lakers offense.

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