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Wizards-Lakers Preview

Mar 20, 2010 - 4:45 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Washington (21-46) at Los Angeles (51-18), 9:30 p.m. EDT

Clinching a playoff berth was always going to be the least of the Los Angeles Lakers' concerns. The health of Andrew Bynum, though, has become one of them again.

It's unclear whether Bynum will be available when the Lakers try to win their sixth straight Sunday night and hand the visiting Washington Wizards an 11th consecutive loss.

Los Angeles (51-18) clinched a fifth straight appearance in the postseason with a 104-96 win over Minnesota on Friday, but reaching the playoffs was a mere formality for the defending NBA champions. The Lakers' stated goal is to repeat, and they are hoping that Bynum - the team's third-leading scorer at 15.0 points per game - will be a big part of that push.

The often-injured center, though, strained his left Achilles' tendon early in the third quarter and left with 11 points and five rebounds.

Bynum has played in a career-high 65 games this season, missing two with a strained right elbow and two with a bruised right hip. He was limited to a total of 85 games the previous two seasons, and missed the entire postseason two years ago when the Lakers fell to Boston in the NBA finals.

The Lakers are 4-0 this season without Bynum.

"The guys on this team, we've been playing together for a while, so that's not a problem. You just continue to play," guard Kobe Bryant said. "We're used to playing through injuries and things like that. I saw him after the game and he wasn't limping too much, so hopefully it's not that serious and he won't miss any time.

"But we need his rebounding and his defense. We throw the ball into him a lot, and he gets easy buckets for us with his size."

Los Angeles probably won't need Bynum on Sunday. The Lakers have won six straight over the Wizards (21-46), who own the fourth-worst mark in the league.

Washington is tied for the third-longest skid in franchise history. The Wizards are three shy of a 13-game slide set Dec. 17, 1966-Jan. 8, 1967, when the club was in Baltimore and matched March 13-April 13, 1995.

The Lakers turned in their second-best shooting performance of the season in a 115-103 win at Washington on Jan. 26, connecting at 58.7 percent. Bryant and Pau Gasol each scored 26 as Los Angeles cruised after building a 16-point halftime lead.

Bryant had 22 points and a season-high 13 assists against the Timberwolves, making 4 of 11 shots. The Lakers have won 18 of the last 19 games in which Bryant has had fewer than 20 field-goal attempts.

"It just depends on the defense they're playing against you," Bryant said. "You just make them pick their poison."

The Wizards are wrapping up a four-game trip after falling 76-74 at Portland on Friday. Washington rallied from a 16-point deficit before losing on Brandon Roy's jumper with 0.9 seconds left.

Mike Miller, the lone current starter for the Wizards who started in their opener, had a team-high 16 points. James Singleton scored 10 and grabbed 16 boards.

"It's always the ones you fight back from that hurt the worst," Singleton said. "But I'm happy with the effort we put into the game tonight."