As he ran up and down the court, Andrew Bynum took deep breaths.
It had little to do with the normal fatigue that surrounds a typical basketball game. It had everything to do with fighting an upper respiratory infection he suffered the night before the Lakers' 112-108 overtime victory Sunday over the Dallas Mavericks.
"It was was just hard to breathe," said Bynum, who finished with 20 points on nine-of-24 shooting and 16 rebounds. "I was tired."
Still, Bynum managed to overcome a one-for-eight first quarter stretch. He focused his energy on grabbing rebounds and playing defense. Bynum shot proficiently in the second quarter (three-of-five) and fourth quarter (three-of-three). And his 13-foot turnaround jumper gave the Lakers a 108-106 lead with 2:19 remaining in overtime.
Bynum remains unsure how long this illness will last. But he maintains he'll take the same approach in handling it as he did against Dallas.
"I tried to fight it off," Bynum said. "That's all you can do."
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