Mavericks' Lamar Odom Reacts To Benching

Lamar Odom's lackluster year hit a low on Friday, as Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle did not play Odom at all in Dallas' loss to San Antonio -- not due to injury, but because of Carlisle's decision to keep Odom on the bench.

Odom provided the media with some odd quotes about the benching, but didn't seem particularly heated about the decision.

"Expect the unexpected as far as life's concerned," Odom said. "I've been through a lot. It's not too much I haven't seen. So I understand it. I'm a team guy. Whatever. He's the coach."

"Whatever" perhaps sums up Odom's season better than any other quote or word could. Odom has been nothing short of a disappointment for the Mavericks since being acquired by the Lakers, and it's seemed to have come to a culmination with Carlisle finally benching the struggling Odom.

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Mavericks Vs. Spurs Final Score: San Antonio Blows Out Dallas, 104-87

Guard Daniel Green scored a game-best 18 points and Tim Duncan added a double-double (15 points and 12 rebounds) to help the San Antonio Spurs defeat the Dallas Mavericks, 104-87, in a Western Conference showdown at the AT&T Center.

The Spurs (31-14) earned using a 22-2 run that turned a 63-58 Mavs' lead into a 80-65 Spurs' advantage with about 10 minutes to play. The run featured six of Manu Ginobili's 11 points and was enough to hand Dallas its second straight loss and tied the four-game season series at two wins apiece.

The Spurs' victory also came without point guard Tony Parker and center Tiago Splitter both out because of injuries.

Dirk Nowitzki finished with a 16 points for the Mavs (27-22), while Jason Terry added a team-high 18 off the bench. Forward Shawn Marion tallied 11 in his return to the lineup after missing the previous game, a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, while point guard Jason Kidd scored 14 points.

Overall, Dallas was dominated on the boards 52-34 and had its bench out-scored 40-23.

To read more about the Spurs, go to Pounding the Rock. For more on the Mavericks, visit Mavs Moneyball.

Spurs Injury Update: Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter Out For Game Against Mavericks

The San Antonio Spurs will have to battle the Dallas Mavericks without their best player Tony Parker as well as center Tiago Splitter, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News.

Tony Parker (hamstring) and Tiago Splitter (back spasms) will not play tonight vs. Mavs. Matt Bonner (back) listed as probable.

— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) March 23, 2012

Just minutes later, though, Splitter's condition was upgraded to doubtful for the Friday night match-up with the Mavs. Splitter is averagin 11 points and 5.4 rebounds in the last five games for the Spurs, better than his season average of nine points a game. Parker is also bettering his season average over the last five games, in which he is averaging 20.4 points and 8.6 assists per game. San Antonio is 4-1 in those contests.

In past 10 minutes, Spurs have upgraded Splitter to doubtful for tonight. At this rate, he'll be 100% by tip

— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) March 23, 2012

To read more about the Spurs, go to Pounding the Rock. For more on the Mavericks, visit Mavs Moneyball.

Mavericks Vs. Spurs Preview: Game Time, TV Info And More

Dallas begins a brutal stretch of games over the next two weeks with a road game in San Antonio on Friday night.