Andrew Bynum continued his progress defensively and on the glass in Monday's win over Dwight Howard and the Magic.

"'He's consistently performing this way," Kobe Bryant  said after Monday night's game. "We expect this from him. This is how he should play and this is how he's going to play."

Bryant was impressed with how Bynum stood up against Howard, saying it was a "statement" that Bynum "can do this against a Dwight Howard."

Bynum blocked two of Howard's shots.

"He's motivated," Bryant said. "He doesn't want his man to score. When Pau [Gasol] is in the game and Dwight scores on him, he's upset. So he's kind of got that motor going for him. It's been in him. He's always kind of had that edge to him.

"Everybody finds challenges. For me, it's always scoring. For him, it's rebounding. For Ron [Artest], it's shutting people down. Everybody has that thing that they do that helps us win ballgames and it gets us excited. For him, it's rebounding and blocking shots."

"That's where he can really impact the game a lot on this team," Phil Jackson said. "Obviously, some nights he's got to score if he's got the hand. But every night he can change it with rebounding and defense."