Andrew Bynum averaged career highs in points and rebounds during the 2011-12 season with the Lakers. (GETTY IMAGES)

The excitement in Philadelphia was curtailed somewhat with news of Andrew Bynum’s latest injury. The 76ers’ newly acquired center was diagnosed with a bone bruise on his right knee, which means he will be sidelined for three weeks and won’t be able to participate in basketball activities for most of training camp.

Bynum, who turns 24 on Oct. 27, comes to Philly with loads of expectations. As soon as he arrived on the Sixers’ team facility, he shouldered the load as the franchise player and the foundation of Doug Collins’ young squad. With all due respect to Andre Iguodala, who is a solid player but not a franchise-changer, Bynum is the first legit superstar the Sixers have had since Allen Iverson and the team’s first dominant big man since Moses Malone.

The Sixers announced Monday they would shut down their new franchise All-Star for 21 days as a precaution after he received knee treatment in Germany.

According to NBA TV’s Dee Lynam, Bynum was working out and felt one of the knees didn’t fee right, and that’s when the bone bruise was discovered. Bynum downplayed the setback.

“The treatment [in Germany] went well. I think it’s more of a precautionary thing with the team. They kinda just want me to be sidelined and let the Orthokine do it’s magic,” the 7-footer told Lynam on the Sixers’ media day session. “I’m gonna be out but I’m gonna do everything that I can do impact-wise. Later on we should be crack it up and everything should be fine.”

Bynum had injections of plasma-rich platelets, a procedure called Orthokine, that supposedly stimulate healing in arthritis-affected areas in both of his knees. The Sixers wanted to give him enough time to have the treatments take hold in the knee. Bynum said the bone bruise was unrelated to the knee treatments. The procedure was similar to the treatment Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez underwent.

The injury throws an unwanted wrinkle into the start of coach Collins’ third season. Collins led the Sixers to the playoffs each of the last two seasons and was rewarded Monday when the team picked up the option on his contract for the 2013-14 season.

“I will be participating in as much as I can. I’m gonna be with the team during the walk-throughs, and learning the offense,” said Bynum, who spent the first seven years of his NBA career with the L.A. Lakers. He averaged career highs in points (18.7) and rebounds (11.8) last season.

“Chemistry is big,” Bynum said. “Everybody has a role and everybody has to play together. I definitely want to be with those guys.”

Bynum said this current knee ailment isn’t as bad as the issues that have dogged him in the past. He reported no swelling in his knees. Bynum said doctors advised he have the knee treatment closer to the season for maximum effectiveness. Bynum said he had the injections during the third week in September. He will continue to participate in low-impact conditioning drills.

The Sixers open the regular season Oct. 31. Bynum would have about a week between his scheduled return and the opener.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rajon Rondo averages 13 points and nearly 10 assists per game against the Miami Heat. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

For the Miami Heat, the key to winning their Eastern Conference finals best-of-seven series against the Boston Celtics is simple: Stop Rajon Rondo.

“Boston creates so many challenges, you can’t key on just one guy. But I think the biggest challenge is Rondo,” Heat forward LeBron James said of Rondo, who had a major hand in two of Boston’s three victories over the Heat during the regular season.

In Boston’s 91-72 blowout win on April 1, Rondo messed around and got a triple-double: 16 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists. He also shot the ball well in that game, making seven of 13 shots including 1-for-2 from 3-point range. In a 115-107 Boston win at Miami on April 10, Rondo scored 18 points and dished out 15 assists.

And don’t think one second that Miami wasn’t watching Game 7 of the Celtics-Sixers series when Rondo took over in the fourth quarter, knocking down two long jumpers late and scoring nine straight points to advance the Celtics into the conference finals and set up a rematch with the Heat.

“You can make a case that 60 percent of his impact is out of miscellaneous random plays that you can’t necessarily scheme for,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Rondo. “We have to throw the full respect that he deserves, and that’s multiple players multiple schemes. He’s too smart not to get that kind of respect.”

Rondo is averaging 13 points and almost 10 assists against the Heat. This season he led the league in assists with an 11.7 average — the best of his career — and notched his ninth career postseason triple-double.

Count Philadelphia coach Doug Collins in the Rondo fan club. After his team lost Game 7 in Boston, Collins said the Celtics are more than just the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen.

”I don’t look at them as the Big Three. I look at them as the Championship Four,” the 76ers coach said. ”Because if you’re going to leave Rondo out, you’re making a huge mistake.”

The Heat will not make that mistake in the conference finals.

Former Philadelphia 76ers star Doug Collins (second from right) has the Sixers off to their best start in 10 years. (US PRESSWIRE)

Philadelphia has been a tortured city when it comes to its sports teams. The Flyers lost in the Stanley Cup final in 2010 and have not won since 1975; a loaded Phillies squad was a heavy favorite to win the 2011 World Series but got eliminated in the first round; and the “Dream Team” Eagles and all its expensive free-agent acquisitions finished a disappointing 8-8 in the NFL.

But have no fear Philly fans because the 76ers are about to embark on a very special season. The Sixers are off to their best start in 10 years, which was also the last time the team went to the NBA Finals. Winning a championship may be a bit far-fetched at this point, but the 2011-12 Sixers are at least showing signs that they are on the rise and ready to fill the huge void after Allen Iverson left town.

There are several reasons for the Sixers’ fast start, but the No. 1 reason has been their defense.

The team has bought into Doug Collins’ defense-first philosophy. Philadelphia is currently holding its opponents to under 86 points per game and 39% from the field. Defense has created more opportunities on offense as the Sixers are averaging 101 points per game and six players are averaging double figures in scoring. And the team’s leading scorer, Lou Williams, doesn’t even start.

Before Collins took over two seasons ago, the Sixers were an underachieving team that didn’t have an identity. They relied on a lot of isolations and forced shots on offense and gave up too many easy shots on defense. But 60-year-old Collins, who was the Sixers’ first overall selection in the 1973 draft, has managed to bridge the generation gap between his old-school ways and his new-school players that the foundation of a championship run starts with a solid defense and balance on offense.

“To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s Andre [Iguodala], Thad [Young] or Spencer [Hawes] stepping up, we’re a team,” said veteran forward Elton Brand, who is only averaging nine points a game but has bought into Collins’ balanced approach. Brand has benefited from the recent play of center Spencer Hawes, who could challenge for Most Improved Player of the Year in 2012. Hawes, who allows Brand a respite on defense, leads the team in rebounds (9.1) and blocks (1.8).

Another player who has bought into Collins’ concept is Andre Iguodala, arguably the Sixers’ best all-around player. Iguodala has accepted the role of defensive stopper, a position he embraced while on the 2010 U.S. national team that won the gold medal at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

With Iguodala, Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus Young, the Sixers have three players who are averaging close to two steals per game, and creating turnovers plays a big role in triggering fast-break opportunities especially for a team loaded with greyhounds who thrive in the open court.

Young is part of a very active Sixers bench, which also includes leading scorer Williams, sharp-shooter Jodie Meeks and last year’s first-round pick Evan Turner, that have given teams fits because there is not a lot of dropoff between the starters and the bench, and the reserves often are the ones building the leads.

“Their bench is their strength and gave them a huge lift,” said Sacramento Kings coach Keith Smart, whose team lost 112-85 to the Sixers on Jan. 10. Kings guard Tyreke Evans concurred: “They have a great bench. They just put a whipping on us.”

Miami remains the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, but Philadelphia is a team that could make waves in the Atlanta Division and become a huge threat in the playoffs.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastbreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Lou Williams scored 53 points in Saturday’s exhibition at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C., featuring D.C.-area players against ballers from the Philadelphia area. Let me say that again . . . Lou Williams dropped 53 points in a game! I hope 76ers coach Doug Collins was watching because we may never see Sweet Lou score 50 points in a game. Maybe Collins should let Williams shoot more if/when the NBA lockout ends.

But to put Williams’ monster game into perspective, it was an EXHIBITION game where defense was like a turnstile, set plays were few and far between, and nobody took a charge in the paint. Sweet Lou may never have another game like this. Too bad he wasted it during a glorified pickup game.

WATCH HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PHILLY-D.C. GAME

The final score read 172-169 in favor of Williams’ squad that featured Philadelphia natives Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, Hakim Warrick of the Phoenix Suns, Kyle Lowry of the Houston Rockets, former New York Knick Mardy Collins, and Flip Murray (who now plays for Efes Pilsen in Turkey). The D.C.-based Goodman team featured Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant, Washington Wizards guard John Wall, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley, Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins, and Detroit Pistons forward Greg Monroe.

Durant matched Williams shot-for-shot, finishing with 56 points. At one point early in the fourth quarter, Williams swished two 3-pointers that prompted the public address announcer to yell “Lou Williams is on fire! He cannot be stopped!” Down three with 15 seconds left, Durant missed a deep three and Lowry iced the game at the foul line.

Depending on the lockout negotiations, more pickup games could be on the way. Memo to the players: Please end the lockout now!