SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who hyperextended his right knee Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs, had a MRI on Wednesday that showed he has a bone bruise in the knee.
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The knee injury suffered by Andrew Bynum on Tuesday put the Los Angeles Lakers' recent issues into focus, writes Dave McMenamin. Story
The injury is not deemed to be serious according to the team and the Lakers expect him to be back this weekend for the start of the playoffs.
Bynum is averaging 11.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and nearly two blocked shots in 54 games this season and has been the key to the Lakers' second-half turnaround, serving as the unofficial defensive captain in the middle.
Bynum's absence means the Lakers will be further undermanned Wednesday as they try to hang on to the No. 2 seed in the West in their regular season finale against the Sacramento Kings. Two other players did not make the trip because of injury and illness.
Lakers forward Matt Barnes also had an MRI on his sore right knee, which was surgically repaired in January and caused him to miss 26 games.
Results of Barnes' MRI showed no new damage.
Barnes, who has averaged 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game on the season, said he felt a "sharp pain" in the back of his right knee Monday, keeping him out of the Spurs game, but he is also expected to be ready when the Lakers begin the playoffs.
The third Lakers player not to make the trip, back-up point guard Steve Blake, is out indefinitely with the chicken pox.
The NBA has not announced when the Lakers' opening game will be yet; however, they have typically started the postseason with a Sunday afternoon game in years past.
In need of reinforcements for Wednesday's game, the Lakers recalled rookie forward Derrick Caracter and signed guard Trey Johnson from Bakersfield of the NBA D-League.
Caracter has appeared in 40 games with the Lakers this season, averaging 2.0 points and 1.1 rebounds. He also has spent two stints in Bakersfield.
Johnson spent the preseason with the Lakers before his fourth D-League season, ranking second in the league with 25.5 points per game. He also spent seven games with the Toronto Raptors.
Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Follow Dave McMenamin on Twitter: @mcten
Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=6346828&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
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