LOS ANGELES, April 13, 2011- The Los Angeles Lakers beat San Antonio to snap a five-game losing streak but the victory could prove costly as they lost starting centre Andrew Bynum with an injured right knee.Kobe Bryant finished with 27 points and the reigning NBA champion Lakers rolled over the Spurs 102-93 as Bynum left the game with a sore right knee.
Bynum dropped to the court after stepping on DeJuan Blair’s foot during the second period. Bynum is the latest in a string of Lakers to get injured over the past few weeks.
"It was a freaky play," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "Putting bodies out there on the floor seems to be the challenge for us right now.
"We will have to see how we patch it together."
The seven-foot centre will have an MRI scan on Wednesday while the Lakers are wrapping up the regular season at Sacramento.
Lakers Lamar Odom said he did not expect Bynum to be out long after speaking to him to Tuesday.
"He is all right. He will come back quick," Odom said.
Odom scored 23 points as the Lakers struggled to defeat San Antonio who sat out stars Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker with the Western Conference’s top seed already secured.
"A lot of times we did the right thing," Jackson said. "But offensively we didn’t move ball well and we settled for outside shot."
Los Angeles are still fighting for a higher playoff seed and were forced to play their starters Tuesday.
Los Angeles are tied with Dallas for second place in the Western Conference and can secure the spot with a win over Sacramento in Wednesday’s regular season finale.
The Spurs were led by Gary Neal’s 16 points, while Matt Bonner added 13 points in the loss, San Antonio’s first in five contest.