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The NBA handed out a two-game suspension for Lakers' Andrew Bynum on Sunday.
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Bynum was suspended without pay for a flagrant foul 2 against Minnesota's Michael Beasley. It happened in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 106-98 victory on Friday when Bynum turned his shoulder and sent Beasley crashing to the court in a mid-air collision when Beasley drove the lane.
"Andrew's [foul] looked bad and the kid fell hard," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson after the Timberwolves game.
Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said he didn't know whether Bynum should be suspended immediately after Friday's game. After seeing replays over the weekend, Rambis agreed with the ruling.
"He made no play on the ball," Rambis said Sunday before the Wolves hosted Sacramento. "It's unfortunate that things like that happen in basketball, but it was the right call. Michael is relatively lucky he didn't get more hurt than he did."
Beasley limped off the court shortly after getting hurt, but X-rays on his hip and shoulder showed no damage. He played in Sunday's game against the Kings.
Bynum will miss Sunday's game against the Trail Blazers and Tuesday's game against the Suns.
"I thought two games was excessive, but you never know," Jackson told the team's website after Lakers shootaround Sunday.
The sixth-year center has been a key reason for the Lakers' 11-1 record since the All-Star break, averaging 11.8 points, 13 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.
The suspension will cost Bynum, whose salary is $13.8 million this season, approximately $275,000.
Los Angeles will start Lamar Odom at power forward, moving Pau Gasol to center in Bynum's absence. Odom already has started 32 games this season, 25 with Bynum out because of injury and an additional seven when Bynum first returned to the lineup as a bench player in December following offseason surgery to his right knee.
The time off could be a blessing in disguise for Bynum, who told reporters this week he is dealing with fluid in his right knee and is taking anti-inflammatory medication.
Bynum had his knee drained three times last year, twice during the Finals and once immediately after the Finals were finished, before going in for surgery to repair his torn meniscus.
Jackson told reporters before the Minnesota game, however, that the fluid in Bynum's knee isn't causing the same level of irritation to the 23-year-old center as the swelling in his knee made him feel last year.
Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Follow Dave McMenamin on Twitter: @mcten
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