Agreed, what I meant was the knee is getting worse, and clearly it has become an issue. The reason I said he was the key to the Lakers prior to the series, is the length he adds to an already long team. Part of the reason baby got 18 points last night, and why the Celtics dominated inside, was due to Bynum being ineffective. Also, if Bynum can't play, it forces Odem to play as a starter and that allows Perk to bang with Gasol, pushing him off the "sweet spot". Odem is not a true starter and as Kenny Smith said last night: "without Bynum, the Lakers are the 2008 Lakers"...who will more often than not, ose close "grind it out" type games vs the Celtics.
Ok, so I might have overstated how much Rondo means to this series. I do think he is really hurting the Lakers with the way he is running the point and the transition offense. The lakers have had a problem with this over the whole playoffs. Also, it looked like Kobe was breaking out last night and then Rondo seemed to cool him off.
If you watched Boston all year, you would see that they never have huge performances from multiple starters. Different guys step up and contribute at a high level, while everyone else does their part. Some nights it's Pierce, others it's Allen --etc. KG has made many plays I would call pivotal in this series...not to mention, he put up 25 points on the Llama recently. Not to bad for an invisable man. I think you are being a bit dramatic with your comments.
LA's starters are better than Boston's for the most part. But they are not better as a team, imo. I mentioned Boston's bench being superior, and if Bynum is hobbled, I believe the Celtics now have a clear edge in that department. The lakers bench is not capable of doing what Bostons did last night, imo.