Read More: Andrew Bynum (C – LAL), San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Lakers, Apr 12, 2011 10:30 PM EDT

The Los Angeles Lakers managed to end their five-game losing streak by beating the San Antonio Spurs’ B-team 102-93 on Tuesday, setting up a wild final day of action. But there was a casualty in the action: Lakers center Andrew Bynum hyperextended his knee in the first half, and will have an MRI on Wednesday. He will not play in Sacramento Wednesday night, and could miss a game or more of the 2011 NBA Playoffs. That sound you heard was Lakers Nation’s collective gulp, followed by the collective curse words.

The game was actually tied at halftime as the Lakers looked as disinterested as the Spurs’ benched starters did. Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Antonio McDyess all sat; as a result, Chris Quinn, Steve Novak, Danny Green and James Anderson all played more than 20 minutes. L.A., meanwhile, needed Kobe Bryant to play 37 minutes, and because of Bynum’s injury, Pau Gasol played 41 and Lamar Odom 36. Five-game losing streaks in April make rest impossible, you see.

L.A. needs to beat the Sacramento Kings in what could be that franchise’s final game in California’s capital in order to finish No. 2 in the West. Welcome back to the starting five, Lamar.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andrew Bynum awkwardly sprawled onto the court, staying down for an uncomfortably long moment. The 7-foot center then walked cautiously to the locker room with more than one teammate staring at his perpetually problematic knees.

The Los Angeles Lakers ended their five-game losing streak Tuesday night.

They’ll find out what it cost on Wednesday.

Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, but Bynum hyperextended his right knee in the two-time defending NBA champions’ 102-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs’ role players.

The Lakers’ hopes for a third straight title might have taken a significant blow when Bynum fell after stepping on DeJuan Blair’s foot during the second quarter. Los Angeles’ superb low-post defender will have an MRI on Wednesday while the Lakers wrap up the regular season at Sacramento.

Bynum downplayed the injury while walking comfortably out of Staples Center, and the Lakers are cautiously hoping for news that won’t derail their playoff run before it begins. Yet it’s tough not to assume the worst with Bynum and his rickety 23-year-old knees.

“There’s always concern,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who acknowledged Bynum could be out for at least a few games. “We’ve seen him go down a couple of times that have been debilitating, so there’s a concern. It was kind of a freaky play, but they usually are, and that’s what basketball is.”

Bryant describes the shot-blocking center as the Lakers’ most important defensive player, and his absence from the 2008 NBA finals was one reason Los Angeles lost to Boston before winning the next two championship series with Bynum in the middle. Bynum had surgery last summer to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

“He allows us to be the dominant team we’re capable of being,” said Derek Fisher, who scored 13 points. “It’s hard to think about not having him for any significant length of time. It was tough to see. He’s so important to what we do, so to even think for a second that he might be out, the impact that would have on him after all of his work, it’s tough to deal with in the moment.”

Lamar Odom scored 23 points as the Lakers struggled to hold off the Spurs, who rested stars Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker with the Western Conference’s top seed already wrapped up.

Pau Gasol had 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers (56-25), who will get the No. 2 seed in the West with a win at Sacramento or a loss by Dallas (56-25).

Gary Neal scored 16 points and Matt Bonner had 13 for the Spurs, whose four-game winning streak ended.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn’t worry about falling into a tie with surging Chicago (61-20) for the NBA’s best overall record, yet his junior varsity nearly knocked off the discombobulated Lakers, who couldn’t breathe easily until Bryant’s 3-pointer put them up 96-88 with 2:55 to play.

“I think it showed the character, the heart that we have, and we’re a pretty deep team,” said George Hill, who scored 11 points. “We tried to give the best effort we could, and that’s all you can hope for. All of us thought we could win. That was our whole motive going into the game.”

The Lakers hadn’t won since April 1, falling apart after a sparkling 17-1 stretch. They still haven’t fixed the defensive execution issues that have plagued them this month — but if Bynum’s potential absence doesn’t get the champs’ attention, maybe it can’t be got.

“Hopefully he’ll be back soon, and we’ll get him back at 100 percent and just keep plugging away,” said Odom, who scored 21 points in the second half.

Bryant played with a short fuse and a scowl even before Bynum’s injury. He earned his 15th technical foul of the season for arguing in the third quarter, picking up a T in his third straight game and moving right to the brink of an NBA-mandated one-game suspension.

Bryant punctuated the tantrum by punching a chair on the bench. If he gets another technical foul in the season finale, the suspension would be for the first game of next season.

If the Spurs and Bulls finish with the same record, every tiebreaker is even, so a random drawing would determine who got homecourt advantage in the NBA finals — a nonexistent concern to Popovich, a four-time NBA champion.

Popovich plans to get Duncan back in the lineup Wednesday night in the season finale at Phoenix.

“It’s a back-to-back, and I’d rather play (Duncan) tomorrow and not have such a long time before the weekend,” Popovich said. “(The reserves) got some experience. I’m happy with what they did.”

The Spurs’ patchwork starting lineup included Neal, Hill and Tiago Splitter. The Lakers took an early 10-point lead but couldn’t hold it, giving up a 13-1 run and going into halftime tied at 45.

San Antonio took a lead on Danny Green’s jumper with 7:28 to play, but Odom’s three-point play put the Lakers right back ahead.

NOTES: The Lakers played without backup point guard Steve Blake, who will miss at least two games after contracting chicken pox, and reserve forward Matt Barnes, who rested his sore right knee. … Veteran C Theo Ratliff appeared in just his second game for the Lakers since Nov. 9, playing 2 minutes. He missed most of the season after arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. … Fans near courtside included Dennis Haysbert and director Adam McKay.

Read More: Gregg Popovich (H – SAN), Andrew Bynum (C – LAL), San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers

The San Antonio Spurs fell behind early on Tuesday night, but rallied back to tie the Los Angeles Lakers at the half, 45-45. Head coach Gregg Popovich is resting his starters against the Lakers, but that hasn’t stopped the Spurs from storming back after a sluggish start, outscoring Los Angeles 30-21 in the second quarter alone. Poppovich saw up-close and personal why it’s a good idea to rest the starters with the playoffs already locked up when Andrew Bynum went down with an apparent knee injury in the second quarter, putting his postseason status in doubt for the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant still leads all scorers with 16 points on 5-12 shooting. Pau Gasol added another 11 points as the two formed a dynamic duo in the first half. Derek Fisher has six points and three assists, as well.

It’s been all about balance for the Spurs as nine of the 10 players to log minutes have scored. George Hill finished with eight first half points in a starting role while Matt Bonner added eight points off the bench. DeJuan Blair and Richard Jefferson each had six points, with Steve Novak chipping in five.

For Spurs coverage, check out Pounding The Rock. For more on the Lakers, visit Silver Screen And Roll and SB Nation Los Angeles.

It’s funny how things work out.

Well, if you’re an inhabitant of Planet Orange, maybe it isn’t that funny.

But a year ago at about this time the Suns were in the playoffs, where they would sweep the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals and supposedly exorcise all sorts of playoff demons.

Wednesday night, the Suns play out the string on a season that lost its soul against those same Spurs, and the Suns only can wish there were playoff demons to worry about.

The Spurs?

Oh, they’ve wrapped up the top seed in the Western Conference and might not even need to play their stars Wednesday night unless there are still best-record-in-the-NBA ramifications.

There’s a lesson in patience here.

Those 2009-10 Suns played the Lakers in the conference finals and were within a crazy offensive rebound by a crazy player from taking a 3-2 lead in that series with Game 6 in Phoenix.

Of course, Ron Artest broke their hearts, the Lakers closed them out en route to another championship and Artest auctioned off his ring.

The Spurs, meanwhile, were viewed as a team on the slide.

Tim Duncan was old and on wobbly legs. Manu Ginobili’s bald spot was expanding faster than the hole in the ozone layer. Richard Jefferson wasn’t the fit everybody expected.

Nobody knew it yet, but Tony Parker’s personal life would make headlines.

The Spurs didn’t panic.

In fact, their coach, Gregg Popovich, graciously congratulated the Suns and particularly playmaker Steve Nash.

And he said of his own team, with Duncan then 34, Ginobili 32 and Antonio McDyess 35: “I would go with these guys again.”

And he did, tweaking the roster but keeping the core, opening up the offense and sticking with Jefferson.

The Suns, who have undergone more makeovers than the cast of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” went under the knife two more times.

Of the top eight players in the Suns’ playoff rotation last season, four remain.

All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire’s departure is the most notable, of course. Jason Richardson was a big-time scorer. Leandro Barbosa was capable of having big nights off the bench.

Goran Dragic looked like the team’s future at point guard.

Heck, even Robin Lopez was playing pretty well in the playoffs.

Oh, wait. He’s still down there somewhere at the end of the bench.

Anyway, of the top eight players in the Spurs’ playoff rotation last season all eight remain with the team.

That’s how the Spurs operate. That’s why in the Duncan era they have won at least 50 games every season except in the lockout-shortened 1999 year, when they won 37 of 50 and the NBA championship.

That’s 14 consecutive seasons in the playoffs.

It’s why they have four championships, three after the transition from a good run with the core of Duncan, David Robinson, Avery Johnson and Sean Elliott to one of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili.

Sure, they had the good fortune – or possibly forethought – to have Duncan fall to them.

But the Suns were in a great spot when they plucked Nash from Dallas in free agency, too.

Since then, their core has changed more often than Jessica Simpson’s.

They’re also on their fourth general manager and third coach in the seven seasons since Robert Sarver and his investment group took over.

On the flip side, Popovich was looking for his 798th victory as San Antonio’s coach Tuesday night against the Lakers. He moved past Boston’s Red Auerbach this season for the second-most victories with the same team.

Only Jerry Sloan, who walked away in Utah this season, has more wins with one team than “Pop.”

There’s a lot to be said for sticking with something that works.

Reach The Heat Index at bob.young@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8271.