The Lakers really only need Bynum to rebound and play defense now that he’s starting due to the injuries to Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm. Whatever offense Bynum gives them will be a bonus, but he has some good skills on that side of the court so he may surprise some people with his output. Bynum has played in 37 games and is averaging 19.5 minutes, 7.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.7 blocks per game this season. If he can improve on those numbers with the added playing time the Lakers would be ecstatic. He’s shooting 57.1% from the floor, but most of those shots are putbacks or dunks so his % should stay high. He also is a good free throw shooter for his size, unlike Shaq, as he hits 72% from the line. Bynum could be a big building block for the Lakers future.

The Lakers really played a great offensive game last night as Kobe had some help. Kobe wound up with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists. But the star of the show last night was Brian Cook who had an awesome game. Cook scored 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and blocked 3 shots! Smush Parker also did his part with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Lakers improved to 25-13 on the season with this win. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270115013

The Lakers don’t really have a traditional point guard as Kobe Bryant handles the ball alot. What that does mean is that the Lakers need their point guards to score points on a consistent basis. Smush Parker’s performance this season has been very sporadic, sometimes good (like last night) and sometimes really bad. Parker is averaging 29.9 minutes, 11.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game this season. He’s shooting decent this season as he’s hitting 45.4% of his FGs and 36.7% from 3-point range, so maybe he needs to shoot a little more until Lamar Odom returns.

Rookie Jordan Farmar has been doing a solid job as the back-up. In 17.3 minutes per game this season, he’s averaging 6.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He’s also shooting pretty well as he’s hit 48% of his shots from the floor.

The Lakers need these two guys to be a tad more selfish until Lamar Odom returns.

The Lakers were driven by their backcourt last night as they got a much needed home win. Kobe Bryant had a good all-around game with 28 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Smush Parker had his best game of the season with 26 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. He also hit 5 of 8 3-point attempts.

The Lakers improved to 24-13 on the season with this win. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270112013

The Lakers got outrebounded 56-43 and they got blasted 55-31 in the second half by the Rockets. Kobe Bryant had an awful shooting night (6 of 18) and he wound up with 22 points and 6 rebounds. Smush Parker added 12 points. Andrew Bynum played tough inside and wound up with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lakers fell to 23-13 on the season with this loss. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270110010

The Lakers were outscored 46-22 in the third quarter and that did them in. The Lakers also got beat on the boards 50-39 which showed a lack of effort on defense. Can’t blame Kobe for the loss as he had a stat sheet stuffer. He wound up with 25 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots. Maurice Evans had a good game off the bench with 21 points and 4 rebounds. Sasha Vujacic had his second great game in a row off the bench with 18 points and 3 steals.

The Lakers fell to 23-12 on the season with this loss. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270109029

The Lakers are playing fantastic this season as they sit at 23-11 on the season and are just 2.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns in the Pacific Division. The Lakers are winning because they are playing great offensive basketball. The Lakers are averaging 105.0 points per game which is 5th in the league. The Lakers are also hitting 48.2% of their shots from the floor as a team which is #2 in the NBA. The amazing think about the Lakers scoring all these points is the fact that they’ve been missing Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown for alot of games due to injury. Kobe’s still getting his points (28.4 per game), but they’ve gotten a few surprise efforts. Luke Walton has played great this season as he’s averaging 12.6 points per game. Smush Parker has averaged 11.0 points per game, but the rest of the Lakers are all under 10 points per game. The bench is giving the Lakers alot of support so far this season. Phil Jackson might be doing his best coaching job ever as this team is playing much better than they really are.

Kwame Brown is out until early February due to a bad ankle sprain. He was averaging 8.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game so far this season. Andrew Bynum will get his big chance to show what he’s got while Brown is out.

Things were looking bad for the Lakers entering the 4th quarter as they were losing 77-68. But Sasha Vujacic led a furious comeback as he wound up with 16 points in 19 minutes including the game-winning three-pointer. Kobe Bryant really played a good game with 29 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Luke Walton also had a solid all-around game with 21 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists.

The Lakers improved to 23-11 on the season and this was Phil Jackson’s 900th career coaching victory. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270107013

Parker had not been playing to well early in the season, but he’s picked up his level of play as of late. Parker has shot 50.8% in his last six games and he’s averaged 14.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. The Lakers need Parker to keep this up at least until Lamar Odom comes back later in the month.