Odom's take on takeout

Laker says foul not cheap shot

Lakers forward Trevor Ariza made fun of teammate Lamar Odom during practice yesterday by getting into a three-point football stance. But even though Odom's hit on Celtics guard Ray Allen last Sunday night was better suited for the gridiron, he didn't view the foul as excessive.

The 6-foot-10-inch, 221-pound Odom tackled the 6-5, 205-pound Allen into the first row at the Staples Center during the Celtics' 110-91 win over the Lakers. The NBA responded by slapping Odom with a one-game suspension Tuesday that will be served tomorrow against Philadelphia. But after the Lakers' practice yesterday in Los Angeles, he expressed little remorse about hitting Allen.

"I didn't think it was that excessive," Odom told reporters. "I wasn't trying to hurt him. I was just trying to make a play on the ball . . . If I was to cheap shot him, he would have known I cheap shot him. But, I didn't really try to cheap shot him. I was just making a play on the ball."

Odom said Celtics forward James Posey "came under me" seconds before he hit Allen. Odom added that he wasn't angry about the suspension, and he would take the punishment.

"I didn't hurt the guy," Odom said. "Of course, I wouldn't want to lose by 20 at home. [There] was a play before that where I thought Posey came up under me. I didn't try to overreact, but Ray Allen was there, he had the ball, and I wanted to foul him hard.

"Maybe I fouled him a little bit too hard. If I wanted to [hurt] somebody, I would know how to make a tackle. But that wasn't my intention at all. I just wanted to foul him."

Allen drew a technical foul on the play, which could have brought a $500 fine, but an NBA official said the fine was rescinded.

Two NBA sources said Orlando center Dwight Howard had a foul upgraded to a flagrant-1 for kicking Celtics forward Kevin Garnett during a Dec. 23 game. When asked if opponents were taking shots at his players, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said: "I don't think so. Teams are giving their best effort. That's fine."

Rocket shipping off

If Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo follows through on his plan to retire after the season, last night's game will be his last in Boston, unless the Rockets and Celtics end up in the NBA Finals. He has promised his six children that his 16th season will be his last. The 41-year-old is one of the great shot-blockers in NBA history and is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year.

"I got to go. I really have to walk away," said Mutombo, who did not play in the Celtics' 97-93 win. "Retirement is on my mind and it's not a physical thing. To me, I want to retire because of a promise to my children. I don't want them to say, 'Daddy said [he's retiring] and he didn't.' "

Said Celtics center Kendrick Perkins: "I know him real good. You got to respect what he did. He knew what he brought to the table and he did it every night."

Mutombo said he received strong interest from the Celtics during the offseason, but Boston's cold weather was the main reason he didn't come.

"It's too cold, man," said Mutombo, who gave 19 tickets last night to relatives on his wife's side. "I didn't talk to any GMs. They talked to [my agent] David Falk. A lot of teams tried to get me. It was tough for me to break myself from Yao Ming, T-Mac [Tracy McGrady], and the rest of the guys."

Old problems are back

McGrady missed his fourth straight game with a left knee injury and could be sidelined until late January. The seven-time All-Star has been plagued by injuries, primarily back problems, since coming to Houston in a trade in 2004. Rivers, who coached McGrady in Orlando, said that McGrady had the same injury issues with the Magic.

"He has a bad back," Rivers said. "There is nothing he can do about it. We went through the same stuff with Orlando. People didn't notice it because of Grant [ Hill's] injuries.

"We've talked about it before. He gets down about it when he sits. He gets down, but he's mentally tough."

Rondo returns

Rajon Rondo missed the game against the Lakers with a sore right hamstring, the first game he has missed because of injury in his young career. But he returned last night and had 13 points, a game-high 9 assists, and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes.

"Rondo was great," Rivers said. "It looked like in the first quarter he signaled to me. I thought he said he was injured and that's why I took him out. He told me he was tired. I wish I would have known that because I would have kept him in."