This season was his ‘last chance.’ Can Lakers’ Deandre Ayton deliver in the playoffs?
Welcome to this week’s Lakers newsletter, where we’re playing chess, not checkers.
The intensity has picked up now that the playoffs have started. The Lakers won Game 1 against the Houston Rockets and now the fun begins. Coaches tinker with their game plans trying to capitalize on every perceived advantage. Players are locked in intense multi-game matchups. For a self-proclaimed basketball sicko such as JJ Redick, it’s almost basketball nirvana.
“Every day I wake up, I’m excited to go to work,” Redick said. “Every day feels exciting.”
Playoff DA
Days before the game, on the day of the game and the day after the Lakers’ playoff opener, Redick fielded different versions of the same question.
How influential will Deandre Ayton be in these playoffs?
“The ceiling for our team is maximized when he’s playing at a high level,” Redick said Monday, one day after Ayton’s 19-point, 11-rebound double-double highlighted the Lakers’ Game 1 win. “I remember saying that three times already in the last week. I don’t know how else to answer that.”
Facing consistent scrutiny as the Lakers’ biggest X factor, Ayton now needs to deliver consistent performances in the playoffs. Just one impressive performance won’t be enough to silence critics.
Ayton sent a solid statement in Game 1. In addition to shooting 80% from the field, Ayton helped hold Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun to 19 points on six-of-19 shooting. The Lakers’ defense, anchored by Ayton on the back line, smothered Houston. Playing without Kevin Durant, who was a late scratch with a right knee contusion, the Rockets shot just 37.6% from the field.
“I really tried my best to show [Redick] that I’m here and I’m ready throughout those practices just being super and extremely consistent,” Ayton said after the Lakers’ playoff opening win Saturday. “I couldn’t wait to just beat up on somebody else in the first game.”
In front of a buzzing Crypto.com Arena crowd, Ayton made his presence felt early. He scored the Lakers’ first points with a turnaround floater in the lane. He caught two two lobs for dunks. The Lakers’ crowd erupted each time.
Ayton, after two lost years in Portland, hadn’t experienced that thrill in too long.
“It got my blood boiling a little bit,” Ayton said of not playing in the postseason since 2023.
Ayton’s career was fading in Portland. He became known more for inconsistent play and lagging energy than his soft shooting touch or defensive prowess. He looked at the two-year, $16.6-million contract with a player option from the Lakers as a lifeline. It felt like the last chance for him to prove he could still be that player who started for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.
Ayton averaged 14.7 points, 12 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on 53.1% shooting in the 2021 Finals series against the Milwuakee Bucks. When speaking of Lakers players with playoff experience, LeBron James always leads the conversation, but Redick, conscious of Ayton’s importance to this team, never leaves out Ayton’s playoff past.
There is still a reason why Ayton was the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, center Jaxson Hayes said.
“When it comes to this serious time of year, like playoffs, he already knows,” Hayes said. “He’s been there, and so he knows what to do. He just came locked in. And I loved it. It was awesome.”
The Lakers were 22-3 in the regular season when Ayton took 10 or more shot attempts and 15-1 in games when he had 11 or rebounds. The trend continued in the playoffs when Ayton made eight of 10 shots in Game 1. He grabbed his 11th rebound in the final seconds.
Ayton’s dominance allowed Hayes to “take a chill day,” the backup center joked. But both big men aren’t resting on one successful game.
“We’re not gonna sit here and take this for granted,” Ayton said. “We have to take care of home court, and that’s our job.”
Gang’s all here
Luka Doncic, left, and Austin Reaves chat as they sit on the bench during Game 1 against Houston.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Each seat in Crypto.com Arena for Game 1 was carefully decorated with a yellow T-shirt featuring every Lakers player and Redick. Each photo, a little black-and-white headshot, was the same size arranged in a grid, symbolizing unity from everyone on the Lakers’ bench. On the free T-shirt and in real life, the Lakers brought the entire band together just in time for the playoffs as Luka Doncic reunited with the team Saturday.
The superstar guard is still out indefinitely while rehabbing a Grade 2 hamstring strain, but his presence on the bench at least offered a timely morale boost.
“I think people don’t know how much impact Luka has, not only on the court, but off the court,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “He’s a guy that always wants to be around with us. We love him just being around, just hanging out, talking. So, yeah, we’re happy that he’s back finally and he’s doing funny things always.”
While continuing treatment for his injury, Doncic’s role at practice was limited to rebounding and passing the ball in shooting drills. He and Reaves helped distract teammates during free-throw shooting drills at the end of practice Monday and engaged in a quick game of rock-paper-scissors while Jarred Vanderbilt was at the free-throw line. After their shared agent Bill Duffy helped Hayes get a Slovenian passport to potentially play internationally together, Doncic has been calling the 7-foot center from Cincinnati “my Slovenian brother.”
Doncic adds his joyful energy to a typically tense time. Maintaining that balance of lightness and focus has been key for the Lakers all season. Like how Redick often describes when Doncic is at his best, the Lakers look their best when they’re having fun too.
In the final seconds of Saturday’s Game 1, when the Lakers were dribbling out the clock, Hachimura was standing dutifully in the corner in front of the Lakers’ bench with his hands up ready for a pass. Doncic playfully smacked his teammate on the head several times.
Hachimura had no recollection of the moment. That’s just life with Doncic.
“I’m used to it,” Hachimura said.
On tap
Tuesday vs. Rockets, 7:30 p.m.
The Lakers have a chance to go up 2-0 in a playoff series for the first time since the 2020 NBA Finals.
Friday at Rockets, 5 p.m. PDT
The Lakers have lost nine consecutive road playoff games. The last postseason win on the road came in Game 1 of the second round in 2023 against Golden State. The Lakers won that series in six and advanced to the Western Conference finals.
Sunday at Rockets, 6:30 p.m. PDT
Maybe the Lakers are going for the sweep Sunday. If not, they will at least get two days’ rest before Game 5 back in L.A.
Status report
Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain)
Doncic is still out indefinitely but at least reunited with the team Saturday after returning from Spain. Redick said Doncic is in good spirits to be back with his teammates, and he sat on the bench for Saturday’s Game 1.
Austin Reaves (left oblique strain)
Reaves is working diligently with hopes of returning this postseason. Like Doncic, he had an initial four- to six-week recovery timeline, which would make April 30 the roughly four-week mark.
Kevin Durant (right knee contusion)
The Rockets superstar missed Game 1 after banging his knee in practice last week. He was a game-time decision Saturday and remains questionable for Tuesday’s Game 2.
Favorite thing I ate this week
Duck tsukune meatballs and wagyu beef tongue skewers from RVR in Venice.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
My friends heard conflicting opinions about RVR — a new izakaya on Abbot Kinney — so, naturally, we had to investigate.
Our verdict is all the thumbs up.
The menu rotates so often that between sitting down and ordering, our server handed us new menus because the kitchen got a different batch of produce from the farmers market that morning.
There were waves of small shareable plates and we started with the duck tsukune meatballs and wagyu beef tongue skewers (pictured). The meatballs are among the most popular dishes on the menu, our server told us. The beef tongue wasn’t popular at all, he said, but they were his favorite. We’re on his side. He said the beef tongue is brined for days in dashi, and the care shows in the beautifully tender pieces; we cut one of the cubes with the skewer that it came on.
We had a seasonal blood orange and fennel salad, pan fried pork rib gyoza that came with a unique yozu kosho sauce, and wagyu beef keema curry. The miso-orange glaze-soaked mochi beignets were the ideal sweet treat.
In case you missed it
Luka Doncic providing Lakers a big playoff boost, even from the bench
Luke Kennard provides a jolt of Luka magic, helping the Lakers beat the Rockets
Plaschke: Can Lakers steal series? Anything is possible after Game 1 win
Nike is denied trademark for Bronny James ‘b9’ logo. Here’s why
Swanson: Can LeBron James pull off his second-greatest playoff feat?
‘He knows the most’: How LeBron James sets the tone for Lakers entering playoffs
L.A.’s Blue Era: How popular are the Dodgers? Even the Lakers look up at them. Way up
Until next time…
As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!