Farmar has shot at early return

By Mike Bresnahan

Jan. 20, 2009 12 AM PT

Lakers guard Jordan Farmar took part in a series of shooting drills and punctuated it with a dunk half an hour before Monday’s game.

Ahead of schedule? Sure looks that way.

“I don’t even know what the schedule is,” Farmar said, smiling. “But I feel good.”

Farmar has missed 15 games because of torn cartilage in his left knee that required surgery last month. He is supposed to be back near the All-Star break, which is more than three weeks away, but his rehabilitation is going well and the Lakers are cautiously optimistic about an early return.

Farmar is averaging 7.9 points and 2.4 assists in 19.6 minutes a game. The hard-charging reserve was injured after stealing the ball and going in for a layup Dec. 19 against Miami.

His return would cause instant relief for Derek Fisher, who had averaged 39.3 minutes in his last nine games before Monday.

“We know we have to get Fish off the floor a little bit,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

The Lakers have experienced a spate of injuries in recent weeks, though Farmar is their last player still on the sidelines.

Luke Walton was activated Monday after missing eight games because of a sore right foot. He did not play against Cleveland.

Bynum’s battle

Andrew Bynum’s struggles in the rebounding department have been obvious in recent games, though Jackson wants him to concentrate on the boards mainly on one side of the court.

“The offensive end is the area in which I’m more concerned about -- [he’s] not challenging for rebounds, just content to try and get back on defense, which is kind of a habit he’s gotten into,” Jackson said. “I’d like to see him improve on challenging and contesting for rebounds.”

Bynum had three rebounds against Orlando, another three against San Antonio and one against Houston. He had six rebounds against Cleveland.

Bynum is averaging 7.7 rebounds a game this season after averaging 10.2 rebounds in last season’s games.

On the other hand, Bynum’s scoring had been on the rise. He was averaging 17.5 points over his last six games before scoring 14 Monday.

No more chatter

A day after Kobe Bryant said Cleveland forward LeBron James would be his choice for midseason most valuable player, Jackson declined to reveal his thoughts on the subject.

“I don’t want to get into that,” he said. “You know I don’t care about that stuff.”

Later, Jackson noted that James’ work on defense had improved.

“He rarely took Kobe on as a defensive player in the past couple years. Last year he did,” Jackson said. “Now he’s moved into that category of really good defensive players. He’s now taken on the challenge of defense, and he’s good.”

What rivalry?

Whenever the Lakers and Cleveland play, there’s a built-in showdown between two superstars (Kobe vs. LeBron) and, this season, added interest because the teams are two of the league’s best.

But don’t call James-Bryant a much-needed rivalry for the league, at least around Jackson.

“I really don’t know if it’s important or not,” Jackson said. “It’s important to you [media] guys, but to us . . . it’s still about a team game.”

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