Who says the Lakers playing the Clippers isn't interesting? Not only did the injury-ravaged Clips hang around and make it a game, but Andrew Bynum poured in a career high 42 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Lakers got the win, 108-97.
On a night where Kobe Bryant's triple double line of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists barely even got noticed, you know something special must have happened. And Bynum's breakout performance was certainly that. Young Andrew hit on 17 of his 24 shot attempts, several of which came on dunks against Clippers' rookie DeAndre Jordan.
The Clippers were without Zach Randolph, Marcus Camby, and Chris Kaman, any one of whom would have undoubtedly put a stop to Bynum's dominance inside. But 42 and 15 in the NBA is impressive no matter who you do it against, and besides, it's not like DeAndre Jordan didn't get his -- as Phil Jackson was eager to point out afterwards.
Jackson admitted that Bynum's offense was spectacular, but his defense? Not so much.
"Offensively, yeah," he said. "But there's two ends to the game still. Don't forget that, right? That was his career high too."
Jordan, a rookie who isn't used to playing that many minutes, finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds himself, while hitting 11 of his 12 attempts from the field.
The Clippers were competitive early, as has been their trend all season: they led by two after one, and trailed by just three at the break. The Lakers made their run in the third quarter, outscoring the Clips by 12 in the period, before allowing the Clips a 9-0 run late to make the final score a little more respectable.
