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Lakers’ Andrew Bynum has off night in Game 1 loss

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Andrew Bynum stood inside the Lakers’ locker room, a book in his hand, his eyes looking everywhere, his thoughts on how subpar his game was and the improvements he needs to make.

“For me personally, I didn’t have a very good game,” Bynum said. “So I wasn’t a help today.”

That was his opening statement to the media a few minutes after the Dallas Mavericks had shocked the Lakers, 96-94, in Game 1 of the teams’ Western Conference second-round series Monday night at Staples Center.

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Bynum had not been the force he was in the first round, when he averaged a double-double.

This time against the Mavericks, Bynum was a single-single 7-foot center, his eight points on three-for-eight shooting and five rebounds a long way from the force he was during the New Orleans series.

Already, Bynum was looking ahead to Game 2 on Wednesday night here.

“I’m just going to be so much more aggressive,” Bynum said. “I felt like I wasn’t aggressive at all – getting low-post position. Nothing. I kept letting them hit me first. It’s going to be different [in Game 2].”

Perhaps, it was suggested to Bynum, he didn’t get enough touches.

Quickly, Bynum shot down that theory.

“I’m a guy on the team that doesn’t know what I’m going to get,” Bynum said. “But I can definitely be more demonstrative, ask for the basketball and be more hungry inside.”

The obstacles Bynum faced against the Mavericks were different from what he saw against New Orleans.

The Hornets’ 6-foot-10 center, Emeka Okafor, was no match for Bynum’s size and length.

Dallas has two 7-footers Bynum has to wrestle with, 7-1 starting center Tyson Chandler and 7-0 reserve Brendan Haywood.

“Tonight I just didn’t do enough,” Bynum said. “I didn’t have enough energy.”

Why?

“If I knew tonight, I would have played better,” Bynum said, chuckling.

Chandler is not much of an offensive threat in the low post, but he is good at setting screens for his teammates, which means Bynum has to step out at times.

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Chandler also is good at rolling to the basket for lob dunks after he sets screens. He had 11 points on five-for-eight shooting, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

It was a situation in which Bynum was constantly thinking on defense, constantly having to react.

“My guy got some lobs because I left early,” Bynum said. “Then I stopped leaving early and that’s when they got layups. We just kind of got beat both sides. I think if everybody picks up their aggression a little bit, we’ll be able to cover it.”

The plan, Bynum said, is to watch tapes of his successful games against the Mavericks from the regular season and see how he can apply that to the playoffs.

There was the game at Staples Center in late March when Bynum had 18 points on six-for-nine shooting, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

There was the game in Dallas in early March when Bynum had 22 points on nine-for-12 shooting and 15 rebounds.

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He was a force in those games.

He dominated in the New Orleans first-round series as well.

Bynum was second on the team in scoring in that series, averaging 15.2 points.

He led the team in rebounding, collecting 10.3 per game. He led the team in shooting, making a team-high 55.6% of his shots.

Where did all that go?

“I don’t know, man,” Bynum said. “Sometimes it happens. Forget about it. Short-term memory and move on to the next game…We’re going to come back, bounce back, get this game [2] and got to get the first game there [in Dallas].”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

twitter.com/BA_Turner

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