“It’s surreal,” (Lamar) Odom said, trying to capture his first visit to Staples Center since being traded last month for a future first-round pick.

He hugged Metta World Peace at midcourt before Monday’s game and shared a private on-court laugh with Kobe Bryant in the second quarter, the moment lingering a little too long only because Odom didn’t know he was being subbed out for Shawn Marion.

Predictably, Odom had one of his better games of a season in which he has started slowly. Odom, the NBA sixth man of the year last season with the Lakers, came in averaging 6.8 points, five rebounds and unsteady 31.2% accuracy for Dallas. He had seven points in the first quarter Monday, but he cooled off after that, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds in the Lakers’ 73-70 victory.

via Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times