Andrew Bynum injured his ankle on Sunday in Golden State after trying to block David Lee’s shot. It looked pretty bad at first, and the Los Angeles Lakers faithful let out a collective gasp upon the thought of Bynum being out for the season in response, but it turns out he won’t be. The X-rays were negative, The Los Angeles Times reported, as they went on to offer the following:
Andrew Bynum’s sprained left ankle was not considered serious enough to follow up with an MRI exam, and the Lakers are officially listing their center as day to day before Tuesday’s game against New Jersey.
He went to the team’s training facility Monday and underwent a series of physical treatments with longtime trainer Gary Vitti, including electro-stimulation, ice and manual therapy, according to Lakers spokesman John Black.
Bynum left Sunday’s game with 1 minute 49 seconds to go in the first quarter and limped while exiting the arena more than two hours later, but he was not using crutches.
If Bynum can’t play, Troy Murphy might get the call at center for the Lakers. He started the third quarter Sunday and finished the game with eight points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes. The Lakers did not practice Monday.
This season is arguably Bynum’s best. He’s averaging 18.3 points and 12.1 rebounds per game, but he inevitably seems to get hurt every year too, just like he is right now. Only once in his seven seasons did Bynum play in every game, and that won’t happen again this year either. This latest injury could’ve been a lot worse though, and would’ve probably served as the final blow to the Lakers chances season. Soon enough, he’ll be back, and and we’ll see what happens from there.
Currently the Lakers are 3rd in the Western Conference, one game up on the cross-town Clippers. It doesn’t appear that 2nd spot is attainable, currently owned by the San Antonio Spurs, but holding onto 3rd would mean avoiding a potential 2nd round match-up with OKC come playoff time. Something the Lakers will need Andrew Bynum for if they hope to close out the regular season accomplishing.
