Lakers center Andrew Bynum is coming back from a four game suspension, and awaiting the big man is a bigger role.

"He's going to see the ball probably a lot more than he did in the past, but he'll have to be able to do something with it in order to get it and keep getting it," Lakers coach Mike Brown said.

Brown said he would like for Bynum to blossom into a "double-double guy" this season.

"Does that mean 10 and 10 or 20 and 10? I don't know," Brown said. "But I think he can be a double-double guy."

Kyrie Irving said he has spoken to Duke's Mike Krzyzewski three times since the season began.

"He didn't like the pace I was playing at in the first game," Irving said in reference to his NBA opener on Monday, a night he shot 2-of-12 from the field in a loss to Toronto.

"He said I needed to play a little bit quicker, which I agree with. He offered as much advice as he could."

Irving certainly played a quicker game Wednesday in Detroit, where he scored 14 points and added seven assists.

"We both know he needs to play faster," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said. "[Irving] knows it. We want to be that type of team. Hearing it from me and also hearing it from a great coach like Mike, who coached him for the last year and knows him pretty well, I think kind of reinforces the way we want him to play. I don't have a problem with that."

Lamar Odom has been placed on an industrial-strength remedial course for improved physical conditioning.

"There's an action plan in place, and he's working [hard]," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "He came in this [Friday] morning and worked for an hour and a half. He's got a ways to go, but he's a willing worker. He was behind when he got here condition-wise. But we'll get him caught up."

Carlisle has no doubt that Odom's slow start -- he was 4-for-27 from the field in the first three games -- will improve.

"We've all got a job to do," Carlisle said. "I can tell you his attitude has been good and he really wants to do well, but he knows he's got work to do.

Celtics president Danny Ainge said Mickael Pietrus should be ready for game action by the middle of January after July knee surgery.

“It feels great [to be in Boston],’’ Pietrus said. “Since I have been in the NBA, my goal has always been to win a championship, and I have a chance to win one so I’m going to give it everything I’ve got with my new teammates. So hopefully at the end of the year, we get what we want.’’

Pietrus injured his right knee in March while playing for the Phoenix Suns. The Suns were close to trading him to the Raptors earlier this month, but Toronto called off the deal when Pietrus’s knee did not test at full strength.

The New Orleans Hornets announced that they have requested waivers on forward Lance Thomas.

Thomas, a Duke University product, appeared in two regular season games, averaging 0.5 points. In two preseason games (both starts), he averaged 3.5 points and 4.5 rebounds.

The Hornets roster now stands at 14.

Amar’e Stoudemire shot 4-for-17 with four turnovers and no assists against the Lakers on Thursday.

“He, like a lot of guys, are taking it on themselves,’’ Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “When things aren’t quite right and don’t feel good, it’s ‘I’ll solve the problem.’ Everybody’s getting themselves in deeper problems. Relax, move the ball, keep the spacing.’’

D’Antoni is disappointed with the Knicks’ execution on the offensive end.

“A little bit of it is, we’re pressing,’’ D’Antoni said. “We’re thinking we have to be that great team right now and we’re not. We’re a little bit tight. We’ve got to loosen up. We’ve got to get the spacing better, get rotations better. We want it too bad. We’ve got to calm down and relax.’’

Spencer Hawes is leading the Sixers in rebounds (12.7) and assists (4.7), while shooting 64 percent from the floor.

Sixers coach Doug Collins said that Hawes is a natural passer.

"He was great last year as a passer," Collins said. "The one problem is that last year he would start out games making high-risk passes. I used to kid him, I'd say, 'Spencer, if you are going to start out turning the ball over the first play of the game, you might as well kick it into the stands so we can get our defense back and at least it's not a fastbreak.'

"But a big part of the efficiency of our offense is that Spencer is very skilled; he sees the floor very well and guys cut off of him because they know he will find them," Collins continued. "It's like anything else. When you run the floor and you know somebody is inclined to be a passer, you are more inclined to cut.

"And Spencer is one of the better passing big men in the NBA."

Ricky Rubio dished out 12 assists, scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 103-101 loss to the Heat on Friday.

"The kid has something. He has that Steve Nash capability," Dwyane Wade said. "They've got a gem in him. He's going to be great for them."

Rubio left a lasting impression on the Heat.

"He's a handful on the pick-and-roll," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "At the end, we were forced to go bigger and switch just to get him out of that pulling trigger game and get us running around all over the place. He's a clever passer. Two or three times, he had me looking the wrong way."

Andrei Kirilenko will stay with CSKA Moscow until the end of the season.

Kirilenko signed 3-year contract with CSKA Moscow before the start of 2011-12 season, with the option to opt-out once the lockout was over.

Kirilenko is coming off an injury-plagued season with the Jazz.

Stephen Curry went to Nike headquarters on Thursday to find a shoe to best support his oft-injured right ankle.

“I dropped an anonymous letter at Nike saying if they do make new Steph Curry shoes, I’m sure they’d be a big hit,” Curry said.

Curry, who previously wore the Nike Hyperdunks, settled on the Nike Zoom Brave V.

Curry said they are lower and wider than what he’s been wearing.

“They’re still analyzing all the data that we collected, and I changed to a different style of Nikes for (Saturday)," Curry said. "Hopefully, that will help and I think we’ve found a fit to avoid those injuries.”