Lakers vs. Spurs: Andrew Bynum Ready to Be Top Dog for the Lake Show

All season long it’s been thought that Kobe Bryant would be the guy leading the Lakers to another NBA championship, but judging by his recent performances it’s center Andrew Bynum who will instead be the focal point of any potential playoff run.

That’s because Bynum is ready to step up and become the top dog for the Lake Show.

It has been a fantastic season for the first-time All-Star who is averaging 18.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks and has thrown his name into the conversation as the best center in the game.

With Bryant on the bench, Bynum has become the focal point of the Lakers offense.

In the five games with Kobe in street clothes, Bynum has averaged 22.0 points and 16.6 rebounds per game. He’s shot only .411 from the floor, but the important thing is that Bynum’s getting his touches, attempting 21.4 shots per game (which may actually be a bit of a high number).

The important thing though is that the Lakers have won four straight games with Bynum as the lead dog.

We’ve seen this coming from Bynum since the All-Star break. He’s put up solid averages of 20.6 PPG and 12.6 RPG this month, after having an impressive month of March in which Bynum averaged 22.2 PPG and 10.9 RPG.

As the Lakers prepare to host the San Antonio Spurs tonight, take a look back just six days ago when Bynum pulled down 30 rebounds en route to the Lakers winning a big road game against one of the NBA’s top teams.

Bynum’s confidence is growing and the timing is right that he has become the focal point of the Lakers' attack. Ignore the numbers for a second and just focus on the fact that he’s a nightmare matchup for every team in the Western Conference.

In six games against the other top seeds in the West (Clippers, Thunder and Spurs), Bynum has been rock solid, averaging 20.4 PPG and 14.5 RPG.

Making Bynum the main priority draws the attention of opposing defenses and as a result makes everyone on the floor better.

If the philosophy stays focused on Bynum when Bryant returns to action, this Lakers team is going to be very tough to beat in a seven-game series.

That doesn’t mean by any stretch that Bryant won’t be a focal point. He’s still going to get his shots, but there should be very few possessions where Bynum doesn’t touch the ball at least once.

One day someone was going to step up and become the focal point of the offense that Kobe’s run for so long. Bynum’s done that.

The time is now for the Lakers to ride the 24-year-old to postseason success.