Court Awareness: Bynum's Forty-Deuce, House Party in Miami, And Rip The Reserve

Before suffering his season-ending knee injury last January, Andrew Bynum was in the midst of the most productive month of his young career.

He had firmly supplanted Kwame Brown as the Lakers’ starting center and was averaging 20.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game.

It’s been about a year since that day last season and Bynum is once again using the first month of the Gregorian calendar to remind the world why the Lakers rewarded him with a four-year, $58-million contract extension—despite having not played a meaningful game since January 13, 2008.

On Wednesday night, Bynum scored a career-high 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and added four blocks in helping the Lakers (33-8) defeat their Staples Center co-tenants, the Los Angeles Clippers (9-32), 108-97.

Kobe Bryant recorded his second triple-double in his last three games with 18 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds.

If not for the uniforms, it would have been difficult to tell that it was a designated home game for the Clippers—especially after the crowd erupted when Bynum reached the 40-point plateau.

The Clippers were playing without Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, Zach Randolph, and Chris Kaman.

Lost in the hype of Bynum’s career night was the outstanding play of Clippers’ rookie center, DeAndre Jordan, who had his own career night with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks.

The Clippers selected Jordan in the second round of last summer’s draft. Many scouts believed that Jordan would have been a lottery pick had he been able to enter the draft out of high school. But his one unspectacular season at Texas A&M gave teams a chance to nitpick his game and many were surprised when he decided to enter the draft.

At seven feet and 260 pounds, Jordan has the physical tools to become a very effective player.  Having Camby and Kaman as teammates should aid tremendously in his development.

Through 41 games, the Lakers have played seven more games at home than on the road. However, their schedule should begin to balance out by the end of February.

Starting Jan. 30, the Lakers will play 12 of 16 games away from the friendly confines of Staples Center —including five back-to-backs and games against the Cavs, Celtics, Jazz, Nuggets, and Suns.


House Party in Miami

Eddie House spent the first three seasons of his career playing for the Miami Heat. Wednesday night was payback time for letting him go. House scored 25 points—20 in the second quarter alone—in helping the Boston Celtics extend their winning streak to six games with a 98-83 victory in Miami.

House, who once scored 61 points in a college game, was 7-for-11 from downtown. The Celtics (35-9) led 29-10 after one quarter and were ahead 57-34 at halftime.

Ray Allen led the Celtics with 27 points. Dwyane Wade scored 25 points, grabbed four rebounds, and had four assists to lead the Heat (22-19).
The most buzzed-about trade rumors involving the Miami Heat have centered on Shawn Marion. One rumor has the Heat and Toronto Raptors discussing a trade that would send Marion and seldom-used point guard Marcus Banks to Toronto for Jermaine O’Neal.

Another rumor making the rounds has Marion headed to Dallas with Banks for Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse.

The Toronto deal makes much more sense for the Heat, since they could use an upgrade at center.

The Sacramento Kings could be interested in Marion as well. They could offer a package of Brad Miller and Bobby Jackson—a deal that would solve two of the Heat’s issues with one swap.

Even though the Kings are probably not high on Marion’s list of preferred destinations, they might be the only team willing to give him an extension with an annual salary remotely close to what he is currently making.

Expect to hear Marion’s name in trade rumors every day from now until the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

The LeBroMo Show

Cleveland (32-8) bounced back from Monday night’s 17-point loss to the Lakers by defeating the Portland Trailblazers, 104-98.

LeBron James and Mo Williams combined to score 67 of the Cavs' 104 to lead the squad. Williams made six-of-nine three-pointers and LeBron made 14 of his 30 field goal attempts—including three-for-six from downtown.

There’s no reason for the Blazers to be embarrassed by the loss. Unfortunately for them, they are now only 5-5 over their last 10 games. With nine teams fighting it out for eight playoff spots the Blazers missed a golden opportunity to use those past 10 games to create some distance between them and the teams who are currently missing valuable starters.

Brandon Roy had 23 points for the Blazers (25-17) and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21.

I’m curious if the Cavs would accept an offer of Elton Brand for Wally Szczerbiak’s expiring contract. The 76ers have played their best basketball of the season with Brand out because of a shoulder injury. Would management admit his signing was a mistake and opt for a do-over?

More importantly, would the Cavs take on the last four and a half years of Brand’s deal? I’m just thinking out loud but the deal kind of makes sense for both teams.

Rip in Reserve Role in Rout

Rip Hamilton had started every one of the first 611 games he’s played in a Detroit Pistons uniform.

Wednesday night, he came off the bench for the first time since he was a Washington Wizard back in 2002.

Hamilton, who has averaged 33 minutes per game over his nine-plus season career, played 21 minutes and scored seven points on three-of-nine shooting in the Pistons' 95-76 win over the Toronto Raptors.

Tayshaun Prince scored 25 points for the Pistons (24-17) and Rodney Stuckey had 17. Amir Johnson, who replaced Hamilton in the starting lineup, scored just two points and had five rebounds.

The loss was the seventh straight for the Raptors (16-28). Chris Bosh was the leading scorer for Toronto with 19 points.
There were a number of people who weren’t at all surprised by Hamilton’s move to the bench. The writing was on the wall when Joe Dumars signed Hamilton to a three-year, $34 million extension the same day he traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson.

There were many who believed that Dumars gave Hamilton the extension so that Hamilton wouldn’t have to worry about how the presence of Iverson would affect his market value. Hamilton had an early-termination option that would have allowed him to become a free agent this summer. With the extension in place, Hamilton would have his guaranteed money regardless of how many minutes he played or if he was traded to another team in the future.

As for the Raptors, they’re headed nowhere fast. The good news for them is that they trail the Milwaukee Bucks by only four and a half games for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The pressure is on GM Bryan Colangelo to make a move. He should be willing to let go of Jermaine O’Neal for any combination of players offered his way.

One report out of Canada had the Lakers and Raptors discussing a trade with Lamar Odom for Jermaine O’Neal as the principles.

This is one trade that I can guarantee won’t happen. There’s no way the Lakers would be willing to spend upwards of $70 million on just four players — especially with the likelihood that both the salary cap and luxury tax limit will decrease next season.

Von Wafer — Basketball Player or Dutch Snack Food?

Even with each team missing two of its best players, you can still count on an exciting game when the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz meet up.

The Rockets (27-16) won for the sixth time in their last seven games Wednesday night, beating the Jazz, 108-99.

The Jazz (25-18) rallied back from a 16-point third quarter deficit before the Rockets ultimately pulled away for good with 2:35 left.

Five Rockets scored in double-figures, led by Rafer Alston’s 23 points. Von Wafer added 21.

The Jazz were led by Deron Williams’ 32 points and 11 assists. Paul Millsap continued his campaign for the league’s Most Improved Player Award with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Wafer is one of eight second-round picks from the 2005 Draft to make their mark in the NBA. The others are Brandon Bass, C.J. Miles, Ronny Turiaf, Monta Ellis, Louis Williams, Andray Blatche, Ryan Gomes, and Amir Johnson. Even Marcin Gortat has had a chance to contribute for the Orlando Magic this year.

By comparison, only four second-round picks from the 2004 Draft are still in the league.

The Big Houdini

The New York Knicks rallied from a four-point halftime deficit in helping head coach Mike D’Antoni defeat his old team, the Phoenix Suns, 114-109.

David Lee led the way for the Knicks (17-24) with 25 points and 16 rebounds. Five other Knicks scored in double figures.

Shaquille O’Neal scored 18 points in the first half but was held in check in the second half, scoring only three points. Shaq is shooting a career-best 62 percent from the free-throw line this season, but missed eight of his 13 attempts from the charity stripe on Wednesday night.

The Suns (23-17) were led by Jason Richardson’s 27 points. Steve Nash scored only nine points but he had 19 assists in the losing effort.
The latest news surrounding Stephon Marbury has the Greek club Olympiacos interested in signing Marbury to keep the team afloat while Josh Childress recovers from a sports hernia.

The question now becomes how much money the Knicks will ask of Olympiacos to buy Marbury out and how much the Knicks would still owe Marbury for him to be happy about playing in Greece.

This would be the perfect situation for the Knicks, in that they won’t have to worry about watching Marbury help a team like the Celtics win a championship this season.

Elsewhere

•    Chris Paul scored 29 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and dished out eight assists in helping the New Orleans Hornets defeat the visiting New Jersey Nets, 102-92.

•    The Milwaukee Bucks got 32 points from Charlie Villanueva and 27 points from Michael Redd in their 133-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The Bucks outscored the Mavericks 69-41 in the second half. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 30.

•    Antawn Jamison scored 33 points and Caron Butler added 32 in leading the Washington Wizards over the Sacramento Kings, 110-107. John Salmons and Beno Udrih each scored 24 for Sacramento.

•    Jeff Green hit a 16-foot turnaround jumper as time expired to give the Oklahoma City Thunder a 122-121 victory over the Golden State Warriors. The trio of Green, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook, combined to score 83 points. Stephen Jackson scored 29 to lead the Warriors.

•    The Charlotte Bobcats got their sixth win in their last nine games, defeating the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, 101-86. Raja Bell scored 25 points for the second straight game. Rudy Gay led Memphis with 26 points but he also committed a team-high seven turnovers.


One Last Thing

Phil Jackson has already been named the head coach of the Western Conference All-Star team. Thursday night, Kobe Bryant will likely be named a starter.

By next Thursday we'll know if there will be a Shaq, Kobe, and Phil reunion when the reserves are announced.

This article also appears on FoxSports.com.