No harm, just fouls this time

By Mike Bresnahan

April 13, 2009 12 AM PT

Andrew Bynum didn’t get hurt, which was a good start for the Lakers.

The details of Sunday’s game also weren’t so bad for them in a 92-75 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, part of an easy, uneventful and perhaps even dull night at Staples Center.

Bynum had a team-high 18 points, Kobe Bryant had 16 points, and the Lakers improved to 64-17 with one regular-season game left Tuesday against Utah.

It wasn’t a perfect day, however.

The Lakers are barely alive in the hunt for home-court advantage in a possible NBA Finals matchup with Cleveland, after the Cavaliers (65-15) obliterated Boston by 31 points to retain a 1 1/2 -game lead over the Lakers for the league’s best record.

Cleveland would wrap it up with a victory tonight against Indiana or Wednesday against Philadelphia.

“I don’t see them losing,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

The Lakers, for their part, ended their one-game losing streak, pushing Friday’s loss to Portland a bit further into the past.

Bynum made six of 10 shots and all six of his free throws, and didn’t get hurt against the Grizzlies, who have been the opponents when he went down because of knee injuries the last two seasons.

“I was saying that myself actually on the bench, ‘I made it.’ ” Bynum said.

So were the Grizzlies.

Memphis center Marc Gasol, Pau’s younger brother, shook Bynum’s hand and hugged him outside the Lakers’ locker room after the game.

“I’m glad you’re OK,” he said, smiling.

Bynum claimed to be unfazed ahead of time, though Jackson thought otherwise.

“I think that he’ll be conscious about it out there,” Jackson said before the game. “But he’ll get over it once the game starts going.”

Actually, Bynum’s game never quite got going until the fourth quarter. He kept picking up fouls that short-circuited his minutes until he finally played nine minutes in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points on three-for-three shooting.

“I’m not there yet, but I’m feeling more and more comfortable,” said Bynum, in his third game back from a torn knee ligament that sidelined him almost 10 weeks. “I thought I’d be a little better off, but that’s just me being really optimistic and not realizing that you’re going to pick up rust.”

Bynum needs to get more active on screen-and-roll defense, move more aggressively for rebounds and run the court a little more often, Jackson said.

“Those are things that are always effort things that take some energy and conditioning, and that’s where he’s moving toward right now,” Jackson said. “Tuesday night’s game is his final tuneup before playoffs. We hope that he’s getting closer to that top form.”

Jackson, keeping an eye toward the playoffs, was able to shave some playing time for Bryant (29 minutes) and Gasol (32 minutes).

The Lakers looked to be pulling away with ease, leading by 13 in the third quarter, but it changed briefly.

Drama, if it could be called that, made an appearance only when the Grizzlies cut the Lakers’ lead to 58-52 with 4:07 left in the third quarter. The Lakers then went on an 8-0 run to end the threat.

Jackson didn’t seem overly enthralled with the effort.

Instead of opening his postgame news conference with a recap of the game, as is his custom, he simply said, “Game 82 on Tuesday night” before fielding reporters’ questions.

“Offensively, I wasn’t totally happy with the ballgame as far as ball movement, player movement and execution,” he later said.

Former USC star O.J. Mayo had 20 points for the Grizzlies (23-57), who had actually won five of their last seven games before Sunday.

The Lakers will know by Wednesday at the latest whether their first-round opponent will be New Orleans (not likely), Dallas (possible) or Utah (most likely).

If it’s Utah, the Lakers will see the Jazz on Tuesday.

“We’re going into [the] Utah [game], trying to send them a message,” Bynum said. “We’re probably going to have a nice day at practice [today] and get after it with each other so we can tune up and get ready for playoffs.”

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The West

The current matchups for the first round of the playoffs:

1. Lakers

(64-17)

VS.

8. Utah

(47-33)

2. Denver

(53-27)

VS.