Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) Andrew Bynum celebrated his 21st birthday Monday, making him of legal age to drink champagne. The Los Angeles Lakers hope to be sharing the bubbly with their man-child center next June.

Key component: The return of Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who was sidelined much of last season with a knee injury, could help his team become NBA champions this season. AP PHOTO

Bynum was the missing ingredient 4 1/2 months ago, when he could only watch and hope as Boston dominated the paint in overwhelming the Lakers 131-92 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, giving the Celtics their first championship in 22 years.

Even the presence of MVP Kobe Bryant couldn't put the Lakers over the top.

Bynum is healthy now, and that's one of several reasons the Lakers look to be the team to beat this season.

Coach Phil Jackson has expressed that kind of confidence, saying: "The idea that home-court advantage is an important aspect through the playoffs is something that lingers in our mind. We want to put ourselves in position to do better than we did."

The Lakers went 57-25 to win the Western Conference last season, giving them home-court advantage throughout the playoffs until they played the Celtics. So Jackson's observation means he's already pointing to the Finals, at least in some regard.

"That's like an old wound," Jackson said regarding the Lakers' 39-point loss June 17 at Boston. "Maybe we were overmatched."

They were in that game, but with Bynum up front along with fellow 213-cm big man Pau Gasol, that shouldn't happen often, assuming the Lakers remain healthy.

The Lakers began last season on shaky ground. But after a 9-8 start, they took off, winning 48 of their last 65 games.

Bynum sustained a season-ending knee injury Jan. 13, just as he was establishing himself as one of the NBA's finest inside players. The Lakers acquired Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies three weeks later to fill the void, and they went from there to win the West and make the Finals.

Gasol did an excellent job, but when it came to playing the Celtics, the Lakers lacked the inside bulk at both ends of the court to win a best-of-seven series. Bynum would seem to be a solution to that problem, bringing the necessary rebounding and shot-blocking.

If things have changed significantly for Bryant in the past 12 months, the same can be said for Bynum, who was averaging 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.06 blocked shots when he was injured.

"The biggest difference from last year, you know coming in, you're going to get minutes," he said. "Last year, I was probably about the third-string center. That's a big difference. You just approach it a little different with your mind-set."

Regarding his health, Bynum said: "I feel good, 100 percent."

On paper, the Lakers look better now than at any time in recent years, with talent and depth at every position.

"Talent-wise, we probably have more talent on this team," Bryant said. "But we had on the team (last season) an inner toughness and that's something that we have to do. Boston obviously was a great challenge, a test for us that we failed. We're going to be getting better at it."

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