The Deandre Ayton era in Los Angeles has been a rollercoaster ride. In the best moments, Ayton has been as joyful as anyone on the team and a walking double-double.
The lows, however, include games in which he seems disinterested in playing and reports of his dissatisfaction with his role on the team.
Despite the frustration that watching Ayton can bring, his talent level is so high that you have to respect it and use it to help you win games.
After being a big factor in Saturday’s win over the Nuggets,
Ayton was equally impressive in Houston on Monday, stepping up in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers earn their sixth straight win.
Ayton’s performance wasn’t a shock, but it was a surprise given that he went to the bench midway through the third and didn’t start during the opening minutes of the fourth.
But Lakers head coach JJ Redick went to him during clutch time, and Ayton delivered. He was a perfect 3-3 from the field, grabbed a handful of offensive boards and his back-to-back baskets in the final minutes were the exclamation points on this statement win.
After the game, Redick talked about why he brought Ayton back and how it paid off.
“We all recognized that he had not played in a significant portion of the game and then you factor in the real-time effect of that,” Redick said. “I was pretty adamant that I wanted him in the game. [Assistant coach] Greg [St. Jean] went over to him and made sure that he was ready to go and then he helped us win the game and that’s what I told him.
“We walked off the court together and he was in good spirits. But, he did. His offensive rebounding and the couple of buckets he got down the stretch were huge.”
When Ayton is a monster on the boards, the Lakers win games. He had six offensive rebounds against the Rockets and ended the night with 11. The Lakers are 14-2 when Ayton has 11 or more rebounds.
Ayton sitting down for such a long stretch in the second half could have set him up for failure when he checked into the game late in the fourth. He was ready for the moment, though and that didn’t go unnoticed by LeBron James.
“He was amazing,” LeBron said. “I mean just the fact he was sitting over there for as long as he did and stayed locked in on the game and come in and finish the game. [He was] able to get a tip dunk, couple of jump hooks around the rim, a couple rebounds around the rim. He helped us finish the game.”
Ultimately, Ayton was brought to the Lakers to help them win games of this magnitude. All of LA’s biggest hopes and dreams are still in play this season. If Ayton plays well this spring and summer, then everything else will be forgiven and forgotten.
So far during these recent big moments against the best in the West, Ayton has shown he’s more than capable of being a peak performer.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
