duncan228
05-25-2010, 01:16 AM
Lakers plan to start Bynum in Game 4 (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=mc-westfinals052410)
By Marc J. Spears
Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum figures to be in the starting lineup for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday after Phil Jackson declared him fit to play.
Jackson said after the Lakers’ Game 3 loss that he was considering sitting Bynum, who is nursing a right knee injury and committed four fouls while playing only eight minutes on Sunday. But after speaking with Bynum on Monday morning, Jackson agreed to let his young center play.
“I just want to play unless they tell me I can’t,” Bynum said after Monday’s practice. “A suggestion is a suggestion. An action is an action. I’m going to keep playing. It’s not going to [get better] if I sit down.”
Said Jackson: “He’s going to be OK.”
Bynum injured his knee at the end of the first round and considered having arthroscopic surgery like Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy, but he thought the layoff would have been too long. He said he will have surgery after the season. The delay will allow him enough time to have the proper rehab before playing again next season.
“I was quoted five weeks,” Bynum said. “I didn’t want go through the surgery, sit out a couple days than five more weeks of rehab, then come right back for the [NBA] Finals.”
Bynum also doesn’t want to miss anymore time after sitting out the entire 2008 playoffs with a knee injury.
“It has a lot to do with that and a lot to do with wanting to be a part of it,” Bynum said. “I guess if I’m playing bad people say whatever. But for me, just being out there trying to do anything, any time I have a good game it’s an extra, it’s a plus. I’m just looking at it that way.”
Bynum is averaging 6.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 15 minutes through three games in the West finals. That’s a drop from the 15 points and 8.3 rebounds he averaged during the regular season. He said he had a “little bit of pain” Monday morning.
“The pain has been the same,” Bynum said. “It hasn’t increased.”
By Marc J. Spears
Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum figures to be in the starting lineup for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday after Phil Jackson declared him fit to play.
Jackson said after the Lakers’ Game 3 loss that he was considering sitting Bynum, who is nursing a right knee injury and committed four fouls while playing only eight minutes on Sunday. But after speaking with Bynum on Monday morning, Jackson agreed to let his young center play.
“I just want to play unless they tell me I can’t,” Bynum said after Monday’s practice. “A suggestion is a suggestion. An action is an action. I’m going to keep playing. It’s not going to [get better] if I sit down.”
Said Jackson: “He’s going to be OK.”
Bynum injured his knee at the end of the first round and considered having arthroscopic surgery like Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy, but he thought the layoff would have been too long. He said he will have surgery after the season. The delay will allow him enough time to have the proper rehab before playing again next season.
“I was quoted five weeks,” Bynum said. “I didn’t want go through the surgery, sit out a couple days than five more weeks of rehab, then come right back for the [NBA] Finals.”
Bynum also doesn’t want to miss anymore time after sitting out the entire 2008 playoffs with a knee injury.
“It has a lot to do with that and a lot to do with wanting to be a part of it,” Bynum said. “I guess if I’m playing bad people say whatever. But for me, just being out there trying to do anything, any time I have a good game it’s an extra, it’s a plus. I’m just looking at it that way.”
Bynum is averaging 6.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 15 minutes through three games in the West finals. That’s a drop from the 15 points and 8.3 rebounds he averaged during the regular season. He said he had a “little bit of pain” Monday morning.
“The pain has been the same,” Bynum said. “It hasn’t increased.”