Lakers still Favored to Win the NBA Championship with Bynum’s Injury

As you all know by now, Lakers center Andrew Bynum has gone down with an injury, again. He is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks after tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee. As you also know, Bynum missed the NBA playoffs a season ago. He went down in mid-January after briefly dislocating his kneecap and bruising a bone in his knee. Then, Bynum was also expected to miss eight to 12 weeks, but instead he missed the Lakers remaining 46 games. Los Angeles would go on to lose in the NBA Finals to a Boston team with more interior depth.

Despite this year’s injury, Sportsbook.com still lists the Lakers as the +200 favorites to win the 2009 NBA Championship. The Celtics are right behind at +250 and the Cleveland Cavaliers are right behind them at +275.

With Bynum out of the lineup, LA is missing its third-leading scorer (14.9 ppg), second-leading rebounder (8.2 rpg), and most prolific shot blocker (1.9 blocks per game). One reason Vegas still has LA favored is because Bynum is expected to be back before the playoffs. If his comeback occurs around the eight-week mark, it would give him about 10 games to get ready for the playoffs. If it occurs at the 12-week mark, the playoffs will have already started. If it’s like last year, LA will have to try to do it without him again.

Bynum’s injury could not have come at a worse time as he was playing his best basketball of his career. In the five games prior to his injury, he was averaging 26.2 points, 13.8 boards, and 3.2 blocks. With such a loss, wouldn’t you expect odds makers to have a new favorite to win it all? I guess I have to agree with the odds makers that LA is still deserving of the favorite role.

Here are some reasons why the Lakers are still the favorites:

1. Lamar Odom will get more playing time. Lamar Odom was a much bigger piece of the Lakers equation a season ago. He is averaging just 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds in about 27 minutes a game this season. This guy is one of the most talented in the NBA and can get you 20 and 10 on any given night. He’ll be able to right in and help out on the interior until and if Bynum returns.

2. Kobe Bryant’s competitive spirit. What did Kobe do after Bynum went down with his knee injury? He said ride me to the Finals boys by hanging 61 on the Knicks for everyone in the NBA to see that LA won’t be an easy out with or without Bynum.

3. The Weak West. The West is weaker than the East this season. The Spurs look to be the only competition and LA polished them off 4-games-to-1 in last year’s Western Conference Finals without Bynum. The team that is favored should be the team with the best shot at getting to the Finals shouldn’t it.

4. The Beasts of the East. With the Celtics, Cavs, and Magic all having to battle it out before getting to the Finals, they may not have enough left in the tank when the high scoring Lakers come knocking, especially if LA gets home court advantage. Plus, teams have done it, but it’s very difficult to win back-to-back (referring to Boston).

5. Bynum will be back. Bynum is supposed to be back and with him LA is at its very best. We can’t count him out at this point just because he did not recover as timely a season ago.

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If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• More is Expected of Lakers’ Bynum
• Kevin Garnett’s Knee Injury
• Hornets Chris Paul Out with Knee Injury
• NBA Playoff Odds: LA Lakers vs. Utah Jazz Game 3
• Yao Ming’s Injury Status

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