Cavaliers’ Andrew Bynum says he’ll be in pain all season

After missing all of last season while playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers’ center Andrew Bynum has played in 10 of 14 games this season.

He’s averaging 6.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.0 assists in  just 16.3 minutes per game. He’s shooting 40.6% from the floor and 89.5% from the free throw line.

As anyone could see from his lack of minutes and his struggle to knock down shots (he’s a career 56.3% shooter from the field), Bynum’s knee injury is still bothering him.

Due to the injury, Bynum says he’s going to continue to stick to the “ground game” rather than trying to play above the rim because he has accepted he will be in pain throughout the season.

“I’ll just stick to the floor,” Bynum told Jody Valade of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Ground game. Position defense and position offense on the ground.”

On Saturday, Bynum put up 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in 21 minutes in a 126-96 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. His coach, among others, took notice.

“It’s the first time he’s gotten close to showing everybody the full package of what he can do,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “He’s a guy who can post up, shoot right hand, left hand jump hooks. He can shoot a turnaround jump shot, he can shoot a jump shot. He’s a very capable 3-point shooter. That’s probably the only thing he didn’t show offensively. But just to show some of his versatility on the offensive end, we were able to see some of it throughout the course of the game.”

The Cavaliers will be back in action Wednesday when they host LeBron James and the Miami Heat.