Report Card 4.11.12: Andrew Bynum is a bad, bad man

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Andrew bynum was a big mean man against the Spurs Wednesday night. (Getty Images)

Each night, Eye on Basketball brings you what you need to know about the games of the NBA. From great performances to terrible clock management the report card evaluates and eviscerates the good, the bad, and the ugly from the night that was.

	Los Angeles Lakers	The Lakers were without Kobe Bryant in their first game against the Spurs this season and yet totally and completley demolished them. The popular line of thought goes that the Thunder can't match up with the Spurs and should try and avoid them. That may be true, but by the same token, the Spurs simply cannot deal with the Lakers' overwhelming size advantage. Pau Gasol has always stretched out the Spurs' defense, but Andrew Bynum (16 points, 30 rebounds) brings another dimension now that he's reached his potential. The Spurs can't defend two players with Tim Duncan. Have Duncan go out to guard Gasol in space, and DeJuan Blair or Matt Bonner were overwhelmed by Bynum's size. Put Duncan on Bynum and Bynum was still able to control the glass and get buckets, but it opened the way for Gasol to shoot over. Throw in a terrible night from Tony Parker and a decent night from Ramon Sessions and you have a Lakers' blowout without their best player. A bad sign for San Antonio who had seemed unstoppable headed into Wednesday night.
	Los Angeles Clippers	For as much as everyone doubts the Clippers, the model is fairly sound. Stay within range until the very end, let CP3 go bananas, win the game. And that's exactly what the Clippers did against a Thunder team that just didn't have its edge Wednesday. The Clippers closed on a monster run, and OKC's offense once again bottled up down the stretch. Can Kevin Durant hit the catch and shoot 26-footer? Sure. But they had time for a better look. Meanwhile the Clippers get another huge win to keep pace in the West, on the road, and get some confidence back against a contender. The Clippers have a tough schedule the rest of the way and that's the kind of game they need to win.
	Rajon Rondo's triple-double	How do you get a C with a triple-double? How on Earth? Rondo had a 10-10-20 triple-double Wednesday night in a win over Atlanta. But it came with 3 of 16 shooting and six turnovers. It was the ugliest triple double you will ever find. And yet he still poured in 12 percent of all the Celtics' rebounds and 65 percent of all the Celtics' assists. It's monster production with limited efficiency. A lot of per-minute action in a very inconsistent approach.
	Atlanta Hawks	It's a tough road environment against a team that is red hot, but Atlanta just had so many chances. The Hawks consistently keep going back to the same ideas, either a Joe Johnson pull-up or a Josh Smith three(?!) for the win, and it cost them. Jeff Teague was alternatingly great and terrible, and the Hawks have a hard time finding matchup advantages to expoit on any team.
	Bucks crowd	Small market cities often have the best crowds. OKC. Salt Lake. Sacramento. If those teams are within a whiff of the playoffs, their fans go berzerk. In a nationally televised game against a superstar-laden team with the 8th spot in the East on the line, the Bucks crowd no-showed. It was dead the whole way. If that's Milwaukee's attitude, they might as well let the team head back to Seattle. Disappointing showing from what has been in the past a very receptive crowd.

E FOR EFFORT
	Andrew Bynum (16 points, 30 rebounds, 40% rebound rate, utter destruction of the Spurs' pride and dignity)
	Carmelo Anthony (13-26 for 32 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, more clutch play)
	Rudy Gay (32 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist)