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<\/p>\nHOUSTON \u2014 Sometime after Deandre Ayton exited the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 road loss to the Denver Nuggets, the 2018 No. 1 pick made a decision.<\/p>\n
No longer, he thought, would he be a weight lagging behind his team. No longer would he worry about anything other than impacting winning. And no longer would he take for granted the opportunity to play meaningful basketball.<\/p>\n
After one of his best weeks in a long time, Ayton found himself on the bench Monday against the Houston Rockets, with Clint Capela \u2014 of all people \u2014 looking more in rhythm and more impactful early. But with the Lakers getting crushed on the glass and desperately needing the interior presence, head coach JJ Redick went back to his starting center.<\/p>\n
And just like he did in wins against the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver, Ayton made winning plays to help the Lakers continue building momentum. It didn\u2019t matter that he had spent most of the half on the bench \u2014 he stayed locked in with his team in case they called on his name.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m telling you, once I sit that long, that\u2019s usually it,\u201d Ayton joked with The Athletic. \u201cIt\u2019s like \u2026 \u2018You out (of the game) for a reason \u2014 go think about it. But lately it\u2019s been like, \u2018Nah, DA. You good.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ve completely \u2026 I bought in. Completely, like 110 percent. I hope you see the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been some stops and starts for the Lakers\u2019 center. His energy and impact have fluctuated as the team has searched for a winning recipe.<\/p>\n
At times, the Lakers have closed games with Ayton on the bench, instead turning to reserves Jaxson Hayes or Maxi Kleber. Other times, they\u2019ve gone without a center. It\u2019s notable that despite his inconsistencies, Ayton has found ways to regroup and reconnect.<\/p>\n
Like many of the Lakers\u2019 issues \u2014 balancing the workload between Luka Don\u010di\u0107, Austin Reaves and LeBron James, or figuring out who to defend without multiple plus on-ball defenders \u2014 getting Ayton comfortable in his role was always going to take time.<\/p>\n
The Lakers don\u2019t need Ayton to catch the ball off pick-and-roll in the pocket and splash 12-foot jumpers. They don\u2019t need him stretching to the deep midrange, a shot he\u2019s skilled enough to hit. They do need him to be active on defense, closing out possessions on one end and extending them on the others while setting screens and rolling hard to the rim.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the stuff that might not always show up in the box score. For Ayton, it\u2019s about relearning how he can impact a game without being the focal point offensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a fact. That is a true fact,\u201d he told The Athletic Monday about scoring. \u201cBut me, I scratched that, I took that out. I said \u2026 when it comes to scoring, we don\u2019t need that. We need you to put that energy what you have for offense and into defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just started looking in the mirror and said \u2018Yo bro, \u2026 you\u2019re not that guy. You don\u2019t need to be on this team doing that at all. This team, you came here to be the effort guy and close out possessions, rebound. Run the damn floor hard as hell, make bigs work, make superstars work.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m having fun with it, I\u2019m not gonna lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayton is undoubtedly a ceiling-raiser for the Lakers \u2014 an X-factor as the team surges towards the postseason. Recently, he\u2019s recommitted to playing with the energy his team needs as it sharpens its focus for the playoffs.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s admitted that he wasn\u2019t always at that level. Now, Ayton says, he\u2019s adjusted.<\/p>\n
\u201cJJ\u2019s been instilling to us that this is a playoff atmosphere, and we fighting for a playoff position,\u201d Ayton said. \u201cYou can tell LeBron\u2019s been locked in, Luka \u2014 everybody\u2019s been completely locked in, and I\u2019m just tired of being the odd man out. I think I told the media the other day, it\u2019s just me finally catching up.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeam\u2019s been there; it\u2019s just been me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lakers (43-25) have won six straight and nine of their last 10, with strong performances from Ayton in recent games.<\/p>\n
Wednesday will be Ayton\u2019s 60th game this season \u2014 his most since his final season with the Phoenix Suns. Despite averaging career lows in minutes, points and rebounds, Ayton understands that a return to the playoffs and meaningful basketball is exactly why he wanted to be in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s a 23-point, 10-rebound game like he had against the undersized Chicago Bulls, a massive defensive effort in overtime against Nikola Joki\u0107 or a strong closing shift after a long break against the Rockets, Ayton has delivered when the Lakers have needed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was energized, and I was having fun,\u201d Ayton said. \u201cSo I really like that the team is trusting me, man. I just don\u2019t want to lose the trust, bro. That\u2019s really what\u2019s getting my juices going and me biting my fingernails waiting to get back in the damn game for real.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust getting back to having fun \u2014 I\u2019m not gonna lie.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 Sometime after Deandre Ayton exited the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 road loss to the Denver Nuggets, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[1055,355,99],"class_list":["post-530992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}