The Return of Bynum

Photo courtesy of ESPN

On the day before New Years, L.A. Lakers center Andrew Bynum returned with a furry. Back from a four game suspension, the 24 year-old center scored a game-high 29 points, en route to the Lakers 92-89 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol each added 17 points to help the purple and gold win.

The bench, after having such an important role against the New York Knicks, played rather poorly.  In total,  the second unit only mustered 16 points.

The Lakers are now 3-2 after an 0-2 start.  L.A.'s offense has performed well, but it is the defense that has made more of an effect.  The defense has kept opposing teams under 90 points in 4 of the 5 games played so far this season.

Denver is getting an immediate rematch against the Lakers. The teams face each other tomorrow, this time in the Nuggets home court.

Lakers' Bench Comes Up Big

Steve Blake might actually be worth keeping. He played how we expected him to play last season.

In last night's 99-82 victory over the New York Knicks, Blake scored 11 points – 9 coming off of three-pointers – with three assists. Fellow bench players Ron Artest (Metta World Peace) and Jason Kapono each racked up nine points.

In a big game against a good team, the bench had a good night. Kapono was exceptionally efficient, going 3-3 from the field with two of those field goals coming from beyond the arch.

Matt Barnes also did pretty good off the bench – going 3-6 for 7 points. Troy Murphy did not have that much off an impact, only scoring 4 points.

Next game is on Saturday Dec. 31 against the Denver Nuggets. It will be Andrew Bynum's first game back from the suspension. It will be a good game to see how he comes back.

The 2011-2012 Lakers

Boy, do the Lakers suck. I mean, they lost to Sacramento! I can't even remember when was the last time they lost to the Kings. Must've been back when the Kings had Chris Weber.

This year's Lakers are one of the worst squads since 2007. Its bench is depleted – who do they have, Ron Ar... – uh – Metta World Peace? Troy Murphy is a journey-man bust. Josh McRoberts is no Lamar Odom. The Steve Blake project turned out unsuccessful.

The starting lineup is also hard to look at. Outside of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, nobody deserves to be starting – Bynum is out serving his four-game suspension.

Derek Fisher, God bless his soul for trying, is too damn old to be playing any amount of significant minutes. He's 37 years-old guarding young, fast point guards (Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans). Just wait until he starts facing other fast PGs like Brian Westbrook and CP3.

Devin Ebanks also should not be starting. This guy was not even on the roster for the majority of the last season, and now he is starting! Goes to show you how horrible this squad is.

Expect more of the terrible play that you saw result in the 1-2 start. Kobe cannot do it all. Gasol cannot do enough to cover the lack of talent. Unless the Lakers make a move for another impact player, Dwight Howard, they are not going to do anything this season. (That's what the Odom trade was for, to make cap room for Howard right?)