Andrew Bynum: Beastly Performance on Glass Proves How Good He and Lakers Can Be

The Los Angeles Lakers should win the West, and possibly the NBA Finals. You can call me crazy, but the dominance Andrew Bynum displayed last night vs. the San Antonio Spurs was a glimpse of how good he and the Lakers can be.

In case you haven't heard, Bynum pulled down 30 rebounds last night, it topped the previous NBA-high this season of 25 by Dwight Howard.

Bynum also had 16 points, as the Lakers dropped the Spurs 98-84—without Kobe Bryant.

Bynum proved that he is in the same category as Howard with this performance. His season numbers of 18.4 points, 12.2 rebounds and two blocks per game support that claim.

Bynum's dominance against a potential second-round playoff opponent was especially encouraging. It proves, if the Lakers play together and utilize their enormous advantages up front, very few teams can compete with them.

To supplement Bynum's 16 and 30 night, Pau Gasol had 21 points and 11 rebounds; Metta World Peace poured in 26 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Take a moment to grasp this performance. The Lakers starting frontcourt combined for 63 points and 55 rebounds. If that isn't dominant, I don't know what is.

In addition, I don't believe there is another frontcourt in the NBA capable of controlling a game that way.

The key for the Lakers is to bring Bryant back in from his shin injury, but to make sure that his greatness doesn't take the bigs out of the action.

At times—Bynum and Gasol especially—can get stagnant while Bryant does work. Kobe shines that way, but the Lakers aren't better for it as a team.

Much of the onus falls on Bryant's shoulders. He is the leader of this team, and he must show the commitment to feeding his bigs. It is the only way they will stay in the game mentally.

When Bynum and Gasol get touches, they work hard on the glass and defensively. The two combined to take 44 shots last night.

They won't be able to take that many shots when Bryant returns, but there is no reason either of them should take less than 14.

When they are plugged in, they are capable of dominating the inside like they did last night.

As amazing as Bryant can be, the team is so much better when they exploit their opponent's inability to handle their bigs.

That was never more evident than it was last night.

This is the Lakers team that can win an NBA championship.