NBA.com is reporting that injured center Andrew Bynum could return to the lineup sooner than expected.  The Lakers have gone 3-0 since losing the big man, winning by an average of 8 points.
Josh Powell and D.J. Mbenga have seen an increase in their playing time while Bynum has been out.
Other notes from around the web:
The OC Register’s Kevin Ding is still mulling the Artest-Ariza Swap.
The Lakers ownership is one big happy family.
The Lakers are better than they let on.
Kobe keeps breaking records.

As far as nicknames goes these days, they’re about as original as a Puffy sample. There are pretty much two categories of nicknames.
1) There is the lackluster use of initials such as AI or KG.
2) The ever popular yet lazy initials and jersey number mashup like CP3 or AK-47 (ok, Kirilenko’s unsanctioned handle is pretty sick).
Whatever happened to those great names like The Microwave, Magic or The Iceman? Guys glossed with catchy handles that also represented the nature of their game.
That’s why from this day out I’m referring to Andrew Bynum as Altered Beast. I’m still keeping with the times by using [...]

Just when you thought the Lakers had their mojo back, the Golden State Warriors pop up on the schedule.
Sure, the Lakers have won 9 straight over GSW including a season sweep for the second year in a row. But anybody who watched Monday night’s Battle in the Bay knows that this narrow win was one that could have easily been an embarrassing loss.
No matter what the records say, this is a clash routinely played on Golden State’s terms.
The Warriors lead the league in points off of turnovers. With that being said the Lakers turned it over 24 times playing right into [...]

Lakers tickets aren’t easy to come by.    Getting to Staples Center for a game isn’t easy, either.  Parking is frustrating and expensive, and the whole experience sometimes makes you wonder if watching the game on TV would have been a better idea.
Sometimes.
Last night, roughly 20,000 fans and I were inside the famous structure to witness a winner doing what he does best: win.  After three quarters of basketball that were extremely painful to watch, the Lake Show decided to make a go at the Toronto Raptors.  The crowd responded, and things changed.  To really feel the intensity, however, we must [...]

The Los Angeles Lakers should be sporting Purple and Gold Manchester United shirts this season. Instead of donning a jersey with a Lakers logo plastered on the front, they need to be flying the corporate sponsorship of AIG.
Like the insurance giant, the Lakers have been receiving bail outs all season.
Unlike AIG though, there have been no funds taken from tax payers to keep a failed business afloat. Instead it is Kobe Bryant who is keeping his team from sinking into the red.
Staring a fourth consecutive loss dead in the grill, Bryant didn’t blink.
When Chris Bosh hit a clutch three to put [...]

217 games, 2 years, 1 month and 6 days. That’s how long it has been since the Los Angeles Lakers have lost three consecutive games. Not coincidentally, that streak coincides with the day that Pau Gasol began wearing a Purple and Gold uniform to work everyday.
The Pau streak came to an end today in Orlando with a 96-94 loss to the Magic. Not even Kobe Bryant’s clutch heroics were enough to deliver the Lake Show from putting up a goose egg on their three game road swing.
Zero wins and three losses with two close calls in the state of Florida [...]

The Lakers need to make a change! Leave it to Ron Artest to take that as a literal statement.
Artest will be sporting a new do when the Lake Show takes the court in Orlando tomorrow. Ron Ron gave his followers on Twitter a sneak peak of his new golden dome.

It should be noted that Artest claimed he was only “half way done” and then later asked, “How do you write defense in Hebrew?”
Stay tuned. Artest could be giving Dennis Rodman a run for his money with this hair style.

Phil Jackson is at his wits’ end when it comes to motivating Pau Gasol. PJ’s tactics just aren’t getting through to the All-Star forward. In addition to Pau’s weakened and sickly condition, the Spaniard is playing without any fire or passion lately. He’s routinely being guarded by smaller opponents yet fails to take advantage of the mismatches. Pau’s putrid presence in the post has this blogger wondering if he’s devolving into Slava Medvedenko right before our eyes.  
So what’s a coach with two fistfuls of rings to do when his words are falling on def ears?
He locks his soft seven-footer in a room [...]

The Lakers are in a funk. Not a Bootsy Collins type of funk either. More like the kind of funk you’d find in the Izod Center this season. You know the funk that is more stink than it is stank.
That’s the kind of funk they’re in right about now.
If I were a Celtics fan I’d cite playing in a tightly contested overtime thriller the previous night as an excuse for the 98-83 loss to the Bobcats. Either that or I’d just blame everything on Rasheed Wallace.
But I’m not a delusional fan. I’m a fan who roots for the defending NBA champions. I’m [...]

How do you explain Pau Gasol’s recent dip in production during the Lakers’ losses to the Mavs and Heat?
According to Phil Jackson Gasol has been “weak and sickly” and is “under the weather”.
Funny, Pau didn’t seem too “weak” when he dropped 14 and pulled down 16 boards during the demolition of the Pacers. He didn’t appear to be all that “sickly” when he went off for 15 and 14 against the Nuggets.
Is this just another mind game being played by the Jedi Master of coaching? Is PJ manipulating the media while simultaneously trying to light a fire under his All-Star forward?
We’ll see as [...]