Bynum leads and follows for Lakers

Long before game time, he can be seen 12 to 15 feet from the basket, no-man’s land for many 7-foot centers, but not for Andrew Bynum these days.

Bynum continued to score with aplomb, the recent work on his outside shot and post moves vividly on display in the Lakers’ 108-105 victory Sunday night over the Miami Heat at Staples Center.

For good measure, he added two points the old-fashioned way, on a tip-in with 18.5 seconds left after Kobe Bryant was short on a running jump shot.

Bynum finished with 24 points on eight-for-13 shooting against Miami’s undersized frontcourt, another outburst after a 20-point effort against Indiana and an 18-point game against Golden State.

It was a year ago that he began to ramp upward, averaging 17.3 points and 12.3 rebounds in the month of January before a knee injury ended his season.

He recently expressed frustration to Coach Phil Jackson, feeling he was a step slow, spinning his size-18 feet in invisible potholes almost on a nightly basis.

After Sunday’s game, the third in a row in which he was a presence on offense, he felt relieved. Or maybe not.

“I’m not relieved,” he said. “I’ve still got a ways to go to pick up the all-around game. I’ve just got to keep it up.”

Bynum used to roll toward the basket for alley-oop possibilities after setting a pick, but now he sometimes sticks around on the periphery for short- to mid-range shots after setting a screen.

“Nobody’s expecting me to do that,” Bynum said. “They just fall all the way back to the lane, so I have an open jumper.”

He works with assistant coaches Brian Shaw and Kurt Rambis on the court 90 minutes before every game. Off the court, he studies game video at home with his mentor, Lakers special assistant coach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Bynum wasn’t terrific in the rebounding category against Miami, taking only six, but none was bigger than his two-handed tap-in that provided a 104-102 edge after Bryant’s shot bounced out to the left side.

“We were yelling at Andrew to get on the boards all night,” Jackson said, smiling. “But he did it at an appropriate moment.”

The victory wasn’t easy for the Lakers, who nonetheless improved their record to an NBA-best 30-6 and gained a small measure of redemption after losing to Miami last month when Bryant’s last-second 12-footer rimmed out as time expired.

On Sunday, Bryant had 19 points, seven assists and a gash over his right eye that required four stitches, the result of a late-game collision with Dwyane Wade.

Derek Fisher logged another long night, 42 minutes, but had 13 points and 11 assists for his 10th career double-double

Wade had 27 points and nine assists for the Heat, which fell to 19-17.

The Lakers took a 73-60 lead on Fisher’s three-pointer with 3:02 left in the third quarter, but that edge was ancient history by the time the game’s final minute rolled around.

Daequan Cook hit a three-pointer that brought Miami to within 106-105 with 4.7 seconds left, but he airballed a 28-foot three-point attempt as time expired.

“I thought we finished well enough to feel good about our performance tonight,” Jackson said.

Bynum converted two three-point plays, an up-and-under move on which he was fouled by Wade and a five-foot turnaround on an isolation play, getting fouled by Udonis Haslem.

The Lakers have played a favorable schedule so far, with 22 of their 36 games at home, though that changes briefly this week with a trip to Houston and San Antonio. They will be challenged, as will Bynum, with Yao Ming and Tim Duncan taking up space down low.

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