Lakers vs. Heat: Andrew Bynum Will Steal the Show for Lakers

Might we be watching an NBA Finals preview when the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat square off in South Beach on Thursday night?

It's a little too soon to say for sure. The Lakers and Heat are both good teams, but we know for a fact that they both have their fair share of weaknesses. Those weaknesses could kill them once we get to the playoffs.

But for what it's worth, we should see an awesome game. We may not see Dwyane Wade (Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that he was held out of practice on Wednesday), but we're going to see Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Fun times will be had by all.

However, the best player on the floor on Thursday night won't be any of the guys listed above. It will be Andrew Bynum.

While you always have to hold your breath and cross your fingers that Bynum doesn't get hit by a slight breeze and come down with an injury, there's no denying the dude is having a pretty great season. He's averaging 16.5 points and 13.9 rebounds a night, and his play has been good and consistent enough to get Lakers fans off the "We Need Dwight Howard!" bandwagon.

As good as Bynum has been, though, he's been flying somewhat under the radar since exploding onto the scene after returning from his season-opening four-game suspension. He's been good, but not great.

That's enough to make me think he's due for a big game against the Heat. But beyond that, you have to like Bynum's chances simply because he represents a matchup problem at both ends of the floor.

On offense, the Heat are going to be hard-pressed to guard Bynum in the vicinity of the basket. And since Kobe is likely to have two or maybe even three bodies committed to him at all times, he and the rest of the Lakers would be wise to keep feeding the Bynum the ball and trusting that he'll produce easy buckets.

Producing easy buckets is something that Bynum is getting better and better at, so asking him to produce a few against the Heat isn't asking too much.

At the other end of the floor, it should be noted that the Heat are a very good offensive rebounding team, and they're going to make life hell for the Lakers if they're getting extra opportunities. To this end, Bynum merely needs to be himself, as he'll be the best rebounder on the floor whenever he's out there.

The only thing that has me worried is the possibility that Kobe will feel the need to force the issue and will start chucking up shot after shot after shot. He has a tendency to do that. In fact, he leads the league in shot attempts per game, and it's not even close.

But Kobe crashed back down to earth in a big way against the Dallas Mavericks, scoring just 14 points on 7-of-22 shooting. He redeemed himself by passing up the last shot so Derek Fisher could give it a go. That worked out pretty well.

Rational thought suggests Kobe will take that as a reminder that he can't do everything all the time for the Lakers. If he takes fewer shots against the Heat, that will mean more opportunities for Bynum.

If he gets them, he'll make the most of them. 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say he will.

Besides, he's due.