*** Welcome to piglix ***

2011–12 Los Angeles Lakers season

2011–12 Los Angeles Lakers season
Division Champions
Head coach Mike Brown
General manager Mitch Kupchak
Owner(s) Jerry Buss
Arena Staples Center
Results
Record 41–25 (.621)
Place Division: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish Conference Semifinals (Eliminated 1–4)

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television

Home: FS West HD

Away: KCAL 9 HD
Radio 710 ESPN
< 2010–11 2012–13 >

Home: FS West HD

The 2011–12 Los Angeles Lakers season is the 64th season of the franchise, its 63rd season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and its 52nd season in Los Angeles. Following the 2011 NBA lockout each team only played 66 games instead of the usual 82. The Lakers finished 41–25, winning the Pacific Division for the 33rd time. They finished the season as the #3 seed in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 1–4 in the Western Conference semi-finals.

At the start of the season, Andrew Bynum did not play the first four games due to a suspension he earned in the final game of last year's playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks. In his first game back against the Denver Nuggets, he scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help the Lakers to a 92-89 win. He had his first 20-20 game on January 3 against the Houston Rockets scoring 21 points and grabbing 22 rebounds. On April 11, 2012 Bynum further showed why he should be an all-star when against the San Antonio Spurs he recorded a career high 30 rebounds and helped the Lakers win the game 98-84. His domination on the glass was further shown when the Spurs only managed to grab 32 rebounds as a team. This was all done with Kobe Bryant, the Lakers best player sitting out. For the first time he was selected to play in the All Star game as the Western Conference's starting center. He was awarded Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of March 12 through 18. Bynum finish the season averaging a career high 18.7 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game (NBA 3rd overall), and 35.2 minutes per game. His emergence as an all-star and career high numbers sparked a debate of whether Bynum was the best center in the league or Dwight Howard. Previously, Howard was seen widely as the undisputed best center in the league. Shaquille O'Neal was one of the main supporters of Bynum as the best center in the league.


...
Wikipedia

...