Andrew Bynum left last night's game against the Spurs in the second quarter after hyper-extending his right knee after stepping on the foot of Spurs power forward Dujuan Blair. Bynum the Lakers 23-year old, 7-foot center who has a history of knee problems, will undergo an MRI today.
Bynum sat on the floor for several minutes with his head in his hands after the injury. He was, however able to walk to the locker room under his own power. According to an ESPN.com report, he will not travel with the team to Sacramento for the Lakers season finale against the Kings.
Bynum had surgery on his right knee in July to repair a torn meniscus suffered during last season's NBA playoffs. The surgery caused him to miss the Lakers first 24 games of the season.
Ironically, Spurs head coach, Gregg Popovich rested Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli last night in order to give them some rest and protect them from injury heading into the playoffs. The Spurs had already locked up the one seed in the Western Conference but are in a battle with the Bulls for the NBA's best record, which gives the team home court advantage throughout the playoffs and NBA Finals. Popovich opted to rest his starters rather than going all in for the NBA's best record.
With a win tonight against the Kings, the Lakers will secure the second seed in the western conference and will likely play the New Orleans Hornets in the first round. But of course, Lakers officials as well as fans are only concerned about Andrew Bynum's MRI results. What does this mean? Well, depending on the results of Bynum's MRI, the Lakers may have to navigate through the loaded Western conference playoffs without the NBA's second best center — a crushing blow to the Lakers three-peat chances if he is to miss significant time.
9450 will update you when Bynum's MRI results are revealed.
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