Andrew Bynum Very, Very Important to Lakers' Hopes

ATLANTA -- At least Phil Jackson didn't remove another "very'' from Pau Gasol.

Before Wednesday's game at Atlanta, the Lakers coach was asked if he agreed with his big man having described himself as "very, very tough.''

"Well, I think two verys is too many,'' Jackson said. "He's very tough. He's not two verys.''

Judging by the effort of Gasol and the Lakers in a 109-92 loss to the Hawks at Philips Arena, one might have thought Sgt. Jackson would have been pulling stripes off the uniforms of Lakers as well as a "very'' from Gasol. But Jackson tried to show some restraint.

Gasol was beaten up by Hawks reserve center Zaza Pachulia, whose play at least should have earned him another "Za.'' And the Lakers overall were flattened by the Hawks.

The Lakers sure miss center Andrew Bynum, who has been out since suffering a strained left Achilles tendon March 19 at Minnesota. With Bynum out, Gasol has had to move from power forward to center, where he looks a lot less tough than when he has Bynum alongside him.



Share "You've got to understand Andrew Bynum is not with the team,'' said Hawks forward Josh Smith. "He's a big part of their success. You definitely can't gauge where they are as a team right now because they're missing one of their most important pieces.''

Since the loss of Bynum, averaging 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds, the Lakers are 3-3. But one of the wins, over woeful Washington, hardly counts.

The Lakers just completed a very mundane five-game trip. They went 2-3, being manhandled by Oklahoma City and New Orleans in addition to Wednesday's loss.

"We're not playing really solid defense,'' Jackson said after watching the Hawks shoot 54.2 percent. "They just outplayed us.''

The defending champs are not exactly in playoff form. Then again, maybe they are considering all the times they snoozed in last spring's postseason before waking up when it was needed and winning the title.

"We're not playing well defensively. This trip was consistently bad. So we got to get back to work.''
- Kobe Bryant But it's obvious they need Bynum, who has suffered an injury that concerns the Lakers for the third straight season. He was unavailable for the playoffs in 2008 due to a knee injury and the Lakers looked soft with Gasol starting at center in a six-game Finals loss to Boston. Bynum wasn't at full strength last spring due to another knee injury but at least his 7-foot, 285-pound presence was enough to help in a five-game Finals win over Orlando.

"No, he's here with us on the trip. He's in our locker room,'' said Jackson in an attempted quip after the game when asked if the Lakers miss Bynum.

Then Jackson turned serious.

"Yeah, we missed him on the floor,'' said Jackson, who said Bynum is making "progress'' but that the team recently had to back off after the big fellow wasn't able to run as quickly as had been hoped. "He could have helped us.''

It's Bynum's aim to aid the Lakers soon. He will be reevaluated when the team returns to Los Angeles, but Jackson said Bynum definitely won't play in home games Friday against Utah and Sunday against San Antonio.

After that, the Lakers (54-21) will have five games remaining in the regular season. Bynum really wants to play in some of them.



"I need to be back,'' said Bynum, who is at least is out of his walking boot. "I need them to help me out with my rhythm.''

Bynum was asked if he believes he will be 100 percent for the playoffs.

"Definitely,'' he said.

The Lakers might take 85 percent. Gasol did have 16 points and 11 rebounds, but he had four turnovers and wasn't assertive in a first half when he only took three shots (he did make them all) while totaling seven points and three rebounds.

The Hawks were in complete control by intermission, leading 55-45. And Pachulia, playing 16 minutes off the bench in the first half, was the best big man on the floor, scoring seven of his 10 points and grabbing eight of his 10 rebounds.

With Jackson saying the Hawks center "beat up our big guys'' and "created havoc,'' Pachulia looked so comfortable it was as if he was back in Georgia. No, not the state of Georgia, his native Republic of Georgia.

"I didn't get to the offensive glass as well as I usually do,'' Gasol said. "I didn't give myself second opportunities. ... This is the time of year when you want to be on your 'A' game, not your 'B' game or your 'C' game.''

Actually, the Lakers might be thinking more about trying to get some Z's. They are a weary team.

Bynum's absence has hampered their bench, and all the road games the Lakes have played lately are starting to catch up to them. Lakers guard Derek Fisher said one reason it's been tough on the Lakers, who are playing 37 of their final 61 regular-season games on the road after a very favorable schedule to start the season, is all the travel has cost them valuable practice time.

"It was a tough one,'' said guard Kobe Bryant, who scored 28 points and actually might be the only Lakers player who doesn't need to practice, said of the 2-3 road trip. "We're not playing well defensively. This trip was consistently bad. So we got to get back to work.''

It isn't helping the Lakers' hunger that they really don't have much to play for any more in the regular season. The Lakers (54-21) have a secure four-game lead over Dallas for the West's top seed so it would take a complete collapse for the Mavericks (50-25) to catch them. They're five games behind Cleveland (59-16), and the big "C'' on that team's jersey doesn't stand for "chokers.''

Jackson said he recently began conversations with his veteran players, namely Bryant and Gasol, about how much they should play in the final games of the regular season when the Lakers figure to be mathematically locked into their playoff spot. But you know the Lakers will want to be integrating Bynum back into the lineup then.

"It's important to have him back healthy because that increases the depth of our bench,'' Bryant said of Bynum's presence allowing forward Lamar Odom to come of the bench.

Dare one say it's very, very important.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson