Andrew Bynum: Historic Night a Sign of Things to Come for Lakers Star

Kobe Bryant was nowhere to be found, but the Los Angeles Lakers still trounced the rival San Antonio Spurs last night with a historic performance from center Andrew Bynum.

The 24-year-old seven-footer became only the fifth Laker in history to grab 30 rebounds in a game and is only the second player to do it in the last 12 years.

He added 16 points in the 98-84 win over San Antonio and continues his impressive play since returning from injury earlier this month.

In the last five games Bynum is averaging 22 points and 14.8 boards and has recorded a double-double in each of the last three games. Those three games have all come without Kobe on the court.

Despite the media's relentless attempts to push the Lakers out of relevance with reported struggle after struggle, they're still the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and have the league's fifth-best record.

Bynum, meanwhile, is having a career season across the board.

In fact, he's making a case as the best center in all of basketball right now.

His performance last night, one far from a normal outing, is something we can expect more of from Bynum—not in the sense that he's going to grab 25 to 30 boards a night, but in a sense that he can step up when the Lakers need him most.

He certainly didn't do it all on his own last night—Metta World Peace went all Ron Artest on us and scored 26 points—but he was the man and has been for the last several games.

That is what the Lakers can expect: big Bynum coming up big when they need him most.

They're the only team in the Western Conference with a superstar center, and if they continue to get the best of him they'll be tough to beat.