Lamar Odom crashed the glass and provided a helping hand as the Mavs walloped the Pistons on Tuesday night in Detroit.

LO contributed at both ends of the floor in the 100-86 victory, posting a well-rounded five points, seven boards and four assists for the night.

Lamar entered the game late in the first and in the final two minutes recorded his first points, an assist and also grabbed three quick boards.

The Mavs go-to lineup of late has been a package of LO, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Jason Terry and Ian Mahinmi, a group that allows No. 7 to play on the ball. They were successful again on Tuesday as Dallas pulled away from Detroit in the second quarter. Earl K. Snead of Mavs.com recounted the success of the five.

"Playing a combination of starters and reserves, Carlisle got an early lift from a lineup of Terry, Carter, Lamar Odom, Dirk Nowitzki and Ian Mahinmi in the early stage of the second stanza. With Carter raining in his third 3-pointer of the first half and Nowitzki draining multiple midrange jumpers, the Mavs began to create a separation on the scoreboard."

A veritable wizard in the open court, LO got a chance to show off some of his passing finesse midway through the fourth quarter on a fastbreak that ended in an Ian Mahinmi dunk. He assisted twice to the big Frenchman in the fourth and also found Brendan Wright for an alley-oop in the game's closing minutes.

In addition to his rebound and assist work, Lamar went 5-of-6 at the free throw line, earning all of his points at the charity stripe. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle praised No. 7's improvement after the game:

"He's doing better. Things are going the right way, we've just got to keep working with him. My feeling is he's going to get better and better as the season goes along," Carlisle said.

Last night's win was the first on the road this season for Dallas and they are now 5-5 on the season. General Manager Donnie Nelson said he knew the integration process for the new players like Lamar would take some time, but he's happy the team is starting to round into form, as he told the Boston Globe:

"When you are trying to integrate new faces in key positions, it just takes some time," Nelson said. "We're going through the growing pains right now. There are some games where it's clicking and we've kind of got the old magic. There's other times when it's a little bit more of a roughshod situation. We're grinding it out and making our way through it."

LO and the Mavs continue that grind in Boston tonight where they'll square off against the Celtics (4-4). Both teams are sitting at .500 on the season after rough starts. The Celtics are coming off a four day break after the team dropped a game to the Indiana Pacers at home last Friday. Catch tonight's game at 7 P.M. C.S.T. on ESPN.

LO IN LONDON?
Could we be seeing Lamar in London this year? Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com reported earlier this week that LO has made the preliminary list of players to fill spots on the US Olympic team in London this summer.

The list includes 19 names, which will eventually be paired down to just a dozen by Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who led the 2008 Olympic team to victory over a tough Spain team in Beijing.

Lamar has plenty of experience with USA Basketball and is a valuable asset in the international game. He has twice been selected to the U.S. Senior National Team. In 2004, he played on Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Athens, where they won a disappointing bronze. LO rejoined USA Basketball last summer and got some redemption as he helped guide Team USA to gold at the FIBA World Championships.

PRESIDENTIAL TREATMENT
Before they made their way to Detroit for Tuesday's game, the Mavericks were in Washington D.C. on Monday to visit with President Barack Obama, a custom afforded to the World Champions each year.

LO made good on his promise to "wear [his] best suit, best shoes" for the visit and in his third trip to the White House, Lamar was all smiles during President Obama's press briefing, which honored the Mavs for their championship win last season. Lamar sat in the first row while the President recognized the members of last year's title team on stage.

Regardless of which uniform he wore last season, LO reflected on what the invite to the White House and subsequent meeting with the President means to a player and his team.

"The trip itself, that's kind of the icing on the cake to be a champion," he said. "Going to the White House, it means a lot. It means we're on top. And it's definitely something the team will never, ever forget."

While they were in D.C., Lamar and the Mavs also took time out to speak with a group of Wounded Warriors.

RELATED STORIES

• Carlisle: Character of the team changes when Jason Kidd's not on the floor (SportsDay DFW, Jan. 10, 2012)
• Dallas Mavericks 100, Detroit Pistons 86: That's More Like It (Mavs Moneyball, Jan. 10, 2012)
• Celtics look to rebound against champion Mavericks (Taunton Daily Gazette, Jan. 10, 2012)
• Exclusive: Team USA's preliminary roster (Sheridan Hoops, Jan. 10, 2012)
• Transcript: President Barack Obama honors, picks on Dallas Mavericks (SportsDay DFW, Jan. 9, 2012)
• Photos: Images from the Mavericks' White House visit (SportsDay DFW, Jan. 9, 2012)
• Mavericks' White House visit set for Jan. 9, but they had to do it themselves (SportsDay DFW, Jan. 2, 2012)
• Mavericks general manager trying to put pieces together (Boston Globe, Jan. 8, 2012) 
• Courtside Live Blog: Mavericks 100, Pistons 86 (Mavs Fastbreak, Jan. 10, 2012)

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