The Lakers have been their best when the team made a concerted effort to feed Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol the ball in the post, allowing the two players to take advantage of their considerable height against the smaller Thunder players.
The two seven-footers tower over the opposition, and they happen to be more talented than anyone Oklahoma City has on its roster at their positions to boot, so why not exploit this at every opportunity?
In all three games of the series Los Angeles has jumped out to large leads by constantly feeding Gasol and Bynum in the post, only to see those leads dwindle when they inexplicably go away from the pair.
Gasol has arguably been the most dominant player in the series thus far, and his 20.3 points per game to go along with 13.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists has been impressive, but Bynum is the X-factor for the Lakers.
After Bynum suffered yet another injury near the end of the regular season, many people thought he would not be healthy in time for the postseason, and even if he was, he wouldn't be effective.
But this strained Achilles tendon injury was different from the catastrophic knee injuries Bynum has faced in the past, and the difference in recovery time has been reflected in Bynum's play.
Bynum has shown none of the rust that was evident after his return from injury in 2009, and besides conditioning issues there are no visible signs he has been bothered at all by this recent injury.
A healthy Bynum to pair with Gasol in the post gives the Lakers an advantage in this series against the Thunder—and an advantage against most teams they will face if they can advance beyond this series.
Other teams have length, but few have the...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
