But just days after learning that he’d been selected by Western Conference coaches to represent the Lakers in Phoenix, Gasol suddenly (in the first quarter of L.A.’s Jan. 31 date with Memphis, to be precise) – found himself without frontcourt cohort Andrew Bynum, who had just begun to tear up the league himself with a torrid five-game stretch.

Bynum was averaging 27 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks on 60 percent shooting, while Gasol played the willing sidekick, failing to score 20 points or grab 10 rebounds in four of those five Bynum breakout games (wins over Cleveland, the Clippers, San Antonio and Minnesota and a loss to Charlotte).

If we didn’t already know that Pau’s decrease in numerical production was due to his deference to ‘Drew, that fact quickly became clear in the subsequent five games. Check the digits:

Pau Gasol’s Statistics, Last Five Games
@ Memphis (W 115-98): 24 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 9-of-14 FGs (64.3%), 6-of-6 FTs (100%), 38 min
@ New York (W 126-117): 31 pts, 14 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk, 12-of-17 FGs (70.6%), 7-of-8 FTs (87.5%), 41 min
@ Toronto (W 115-107): 31 pts, 15 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 12-of-17 FGs (70.6%), 7-of-8 FTs (87.5%), 45 min
@ Boston (W 110-109 OT): 24 pts, 14 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 10-of-14 FGs (71.4%), 4-of-7 FTs (57.1%), 46 min
@ Cleveland (W 101-91): 18 pts, 12 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 6-of-15 FGs (40.0%), 6-of-8 FTs (75%), 44 min

TOTALS (5-0): 25.6 pts, 12.6 reb, 4.4 ast, 1.2 blk, 0.8 stl , 49-of- 77 FGs (63.6%), 30-of-37 FTs (81.1%), 42.8 min

So how’s he doing it? Is Gasol simply that good? That efficient?

There are a few obvious answers:

A) Pau’s playing six more minutes per game.

B) There’s more room for Gasol to operate without Bynum occupying paint space, and Pau’s getting more touches closer to the hoop.

C) The Spaniard is in a better position to rebound defensively by guarding bigger players.

Now, to get a little bit deeper into it, we spent a few minutes talking to great-triangle-offense mind Luke Walton. Here’s what Walton had to offer: