EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Deandre Ayton promptly positioned himself before the banner and behind the microphones, cheerfully greeting the gathered media with a “Good morning.”
Ayton appeared to be in high spirits on Thursday, and understandably so. The Los Angeles Lakers had just concluded their practice session before boarding a flight to Houston, holding a commanding 2-0 lead in their first-round series against the Rockets. Ayton acknowledged his significant contribution to his team’s victories in the initial two playoff matchups.
“It’s been enjoyable,” Ayton confessed with a smile. “I won’t deny it.”
Following Game 1, Ayton’s impact was undeniable; his statistics clearly established him as the most dominant center on the court. Facing off against Rockets All-Star Alperen Şengün, Ayton kicked off the series with an impressive 19 points and 11 rebounds.
In Game 2, however, his contributions were less immediately apparent. Ayton shot a mere 3-of-8 from the field, marking his eighth-lowest shooting percentage game of the season. He managed only five rebounds, and the Lakers were outscored by five points during his time on the court.
Yet, Ayton’s value extends beyond simple box score numbers. His pivotal role in the Lakers’ defensive scheme, characterized by his adaptability in switches and agility in scrambling out of traps, has been crucial to their strategic game plans. Furthermore, with the Rockets relentlessly attacking the offensive glass after every shot, credit for any Laker rebound must also be given to the four other players actively boxing out.
“It’s truly about multiple efforts. People talk about second-chance efforts, but it’s like several efforts within the same possession. Houston, they really commit to that, you know, they extend possessions by crashing the boards,” Ayton explained. “That’s when your grit really has to surface, and you need to go mano a mano, effectively boxing out your opponent and ending the possession. It’s essential for us to establish our offensive rhythm. And matching their physicality requires a collective group and team effort.
“I just feel like we are exceptionally focused out there; we understand, in precise detail, that when the shot goes up, we find a man, secure a body, close out the possession, and then get into our fast break. That has been our intention, our sense of urgency, to end possessions.”
The Rockets have accumulated 38 offensive rebounds across the first two games and have taken 44 more shots than the Lakers. Despite this, Los Angeles has demonstrated far greater efficiency with its possessions and is on the verge of welcoming back Austin Reaves from his strained oblique injury. The team upgraded Reaves’ status to questionable for Friday’s Game 3, occurring 22 days after he sustained the injury in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It has been a sufficiently strong beginning for Ayton in his first postseason appearance since 2023 with the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers have successfully held the Rockets under 100 points in back-to-back games.
“We enjoy commending DA,” Lakers coach JJ Redick stated on Thursday. “We love to commend him — I mean, when he performs as we ask him to, he deserves all the acclaim in the world. Again, he’s the former No. 1 pick, and he often undertakes a lot of unsung work, so we consistently praise him for that.”
The often-overlooked contributions from Ayton and backup center Jaxson Hayes have been vital this season, especially after the lack of effective center play last postseason led Redick to bench Hayes and exclusively deploy small lineups during the Lakers’ first-round defeat to Minnesota. This year, Redick has identified his big men as the key players capable of elevating the team’s overall potential.
While Ayton did not finish Game 2 on the court during critical moments, it was solely due to Hayes’ exceptional performance during his minutes.
“(Ayton’s) been a major factor in both these games. Defensively, I thought he was outstanding in the second half of Game 2 and had played extensively down the stretch — or to start the fourth quarter, he had a really long stint,” Redick elaborated. “And that was during a period with very few dead balls. I told him I’d take him out quickly to bring him back in, and then Jaxson simply played brilliantly. DA and I discussed it today, and I told him, ‘You didn’t do anything wrong; that’s not why you didn’t finish the game.’ It was simply that the group on the court was performing well and winning, and Jaxson was doing an excellent job.
“However, we cannot achieve the level of victory we aspire to without both of those players performing exceptionally.”
This weighty responsibility has left Ayton feeling invigorated — yet far from satisfied.
“I mean, LeBron (James) is making it abundantly clear not to get comfortable, and JJ as well, so we can’t become too complacent,” Ayton said. “This is the playoffs, you know? Anything can happen, man. We know we want to take care of business just as we did here at home. And you know, keep everything solid, and we’ll take what we refined in the lab over there to Houston.”