By Mike Bresnahan - LA Times

Get that answer and more as beat writer Mike Bresnahan takes readers’ questions.

Question: Is this Laker team becoming the team to beat or what? Perhaps not this year, as the Celtics are awesome, but next year, with Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza back? Whew. Awesome.

–Bill Purkiss, Meadview, Ariz.

Answer: The Lakers continue to rack up victory after victory, the latest coming impressively in Phoenix.

There’s no denying that things are looking up for them, despite the fact they were in utter turmoil when the season began in October.

And the Lakers actually got the jump on Phoenix and Dallas as far as making an impact trade. While those teams struggled in the first game with their new stars, the Lakers have already learned to play with Gasol, in case their 7-1 record with him didn’t prove the obvious.

Still, the Western Conference is stacked.

Four, five, maybe even six teams from the West have the ability to advance to the NBA Finals. My favorite stat of the month: The ninth-place team in the West, Golden State, would be winning the Southeast Division in the East, as of Friday afternoon.

And if the Lakers manage to navigate their way to the NBA Finals, Boston, Detroit or a suddenly improved Cleveland will probably be waiting.

In other words, the Lakers are looking pretty strong, but a few key questions stand out before anointing them the team to beat:

–How quickly can they incorporate Bynum into the lineup when he returns next month?

–Can they maintain a spot among the top two teams in the West to secure home-court advantage through at least two rounds?

–Will the injury bug finally leave them alone?

If all of the above answer in their favor, the Lakers might just be the team to beat.

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• The Lakers Aren’t Champs Yet
• College season starts now for West’s elite