LOS ANGELES --- Andrew Bynum is starting to get it, but not getting it enough to recognize that scoring 15 points against Tim Duncan on Sunday was a better performance than scoring 42 points against a decimated Clippers front line, or dropping 23 points in 27 minutes against a youthful Washington Wizards squad.
Those other two games had nothing to do with the playoffs, which are all that matters in the NBA. This looked more like a postseason possibility, and if Bynum can play Duncan to a 15-15 standstill while managing to help out on Tony Parker as well, and if Manu Ginobili is going to be this erratic then the series would be a short one. Back on their home court and back at full strength, with Jordan Farmar's surprisingly early return from a knee injury completing the restoration of the full roster the Lakers lacked in a narrow Spurs victory at San Antonio Jan. 14, Los Angeles pulled away in the second half for a 99-85 victory.
Bynum was in the middle of it all. He had 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. He guarded Duncan one-on-one and held his own. He made seven of eight free throws to pick up his points on a day his field goal attempts weren't falling (4-for-10). The only thing he didn't do was acknowledge this was the best game of his recent run of double-doubles.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Bynum-090125