Bynum makes more progress

The Lakers’ locker room opened up before Friday night’s game and there sat center Andrew Bynum in his workout gear, a black brace on his injured right knee.

Bynum talked about how he wants to come back from the torn medial collateral ligament in his knee that he suffered Jan. 31 against the Memphis Grizzlies.

He tied his shoes and then went onto the Staples Center court to do some shooting drills with assistant coach Kurt Rambis.

It was the second straight day Bynum had worked out, each time another step in his progress.

After the workout, and after he worked up an extra sweat shooting three-pointers in a contest with assistant coach Brian Shaw as his teammate against Luke Walton and Adam Morrison, Bynum was asked how he felt after his intense drills with Rambis.

“Felt good,” Bynum said as he ran off the court.

Rambis gave his assessment of Bynum.

“We need to see him play some five-on-five,” Rambis said.

That could come today when the Lakers practice, or it could happen next week.

Bynum, who missed his 30th consecutive game, played three-on-three at practice Thursday.

He said he is pain-free and that he wants to play in the final two regular-season games, starting against Memphis on April 12.

“That’s the goal for me,” Bynum said. “I want to come back as soon as possible so I can get some game time under my belt.”

Gasol pushing through

Of all the Lakers who seem to be weary, Pau Gasol has been the most up-front about it, saying his heavy workload since Bynum went down has taken a toll.

When asked about Gasol’s comments, Coach Phil Jackson seemed to shrug it off, saying he wasn’t worried “a lot about it.”

“Pau’s a little bit . . . well, I won’t call him a whiner,” Jackson said. . “He’s just a guy that might get a little bit over the edge on that.

“But he knows he has to step it up, and he’s done a terrific job playing the kind of minutes that really is a compliment to him on his ability to take care of his body and do what he has to do to compete at this level.”

Gasol was averaging 37.1 minutes a game before Friday night, the highest on the team.

During the Lakers’ losses on the road this week against Atlanta and Charlotte, many of the players looked worn down.

“I think guys have live legs,” Jackson said. “It’s certainly not November for them, but they are doing really well.

“They have to push themselves.”

Playoff tickets

The Lakers announced that individual game tickets for first-round playoff games will go on sale today at 10 a.m.

Tickets will be sold at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and by telephone at 1-800-4-NBA-TIX.

There is a limit of four tickets per person, per game. There won’t be any tickets sold at the Staples Center box office.

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