Bryant, Odom are up to the minutes

Beyond all the points, rebounds and assists, one statistic has been sneaking up on Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom -- minutes played.

The Lakers have been tucking away victory after victory, including a 108-104 overtime nailbiter Sunday against Dallas, but Odom and Bryant haven’t been getting much rest because of the Lakers’ injuries.

Odom played 48 minutes against the Mavericks and Bryant played 51, chunks of time that were even larger than usual because of the five-minute overtime.

The uptick in minutes was on Coach Phil Jackson’s mind as the Lakers again played only three reserves Sunday -- Ronny Turiaf, Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar.

“Phoenix for the last four years has played three guys off the bench, so it’s not unusual,” Jackson said. “But the problem is that I play Kobe and Lamar longer minutes. That’s a little bit tougher. There’s some concern.”

Over the last four games, Bryant has averaged 45 minutes and Odom has averaged 40.8.

Vladimir Radmanovic is expected to return soon from a strained right calf muscle, somewhat easing the strain on Odom and Bryant, but Andrew Bynum (knee) and Trevor Ariza (foot) are not expected back until the beginning of April, at the earliest.

Bynum continued jogging in a swimming pool Sunday and felt no pain, although he still has not advanced to jogging on a treadmill. Once he hits the treadmill, he will gradually progress to faster speeds before he is ready to begin individual work on the practice court.

Until the reserves come back, Odom and Bryant will continue to collect playing time, not that either one seemed to mind.

“I told [Jackson] I could have went the whole way, could have went the distance,” Bryant said after Sunday’s game.

“I really feel fine. My minutes have been down [this season]. At this point in time during the season, I feel fantastic.”

Bryant is averaging 38.4 minutes a game, down from 40.8 last season and 41 in 2005-06.

Odom is averaging 37.3 minutes a game, also down from 39.3 last season and 40.3 in 2005-06.

“This is what it’s about,” Odom said. “This is why you get taken care of [financially]. It’s why you can take care of your family. So I’m tired. Doesn’t matter. Just keep going.”

--

The Mavericks tried just about everything to slow down Bryant (52 points), including one novel defensive look: double-teaming Pau Gasol with Bryant’s man for a brief stretch.

Bryant was shocked he wasn’t the one getting doubled.

“I’ve never been doubled off of since Shaq [O’Neal] left,” he said. “They doubled off of me, and I was sitting there like it was Christmas. It was a good feeling.”

Said Dallas Coach Avery Johnson: “The funny thing is, we gave him a single look, then we double-teamed him, then we gave him a triple team and he split the triple team and scored. We tried to zone him, we tried to funnel him in the trap and he went the other way, so he didn’t cooperate on any of our defenses.”

--

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com