The Los Angeles Lakers fans had seen enough of an all-too-familiar story with Deandre Ayton in the second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a matchup that was neither particularly exciting nor entertaining. They suffered an ugly 131-108 loss to the Thunder on Saturday and now trail the best-of-seven series 3-0.
It hasn’t been a prolific series for Ayton, who delivered another catastrophic performance in Game 3 at home. He is now fighting to retain the confidence of head coach JJ Redick, who was seen venting his frustrations at the center from the courtside during the game.
The former No. 1 pick is talented, there’s no doubt about that. But one issue that continues to surface is his tendency to get lackadaisical defensively. Ayton has a habit of making the same mistakes when the season is on the line, and those errors almost immediately end up in the opponent’s favor.
It’s gotten to the point where those struggles are bleeding into the series. He was outplayed by the Thunder big men on both ends of the floor on Saturday.
So when Ayton continued to give up offensive rebounds, which the Thunder took advantage of, it did not go down well with Redick, who reportedly pulled no punches, turning to his assistant coaches and saying:
“I can’t play him.”
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It seemed overdue. Surrendering multiple offensive rebounds is not a good look for him, but it looks worse for the team overall as it now faces elimination. Ayton finished the game with six rebounds, his worst mark of the series. He also added 10 points, one steal and one block in 24 minutes.
In Game 2, he posted only three points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes. In Game 1, he had 10 points and 12 rebounds. There’s no excuse for what we’re seeing from him as of late, and he is now even more under the microscope as Redick tries to figure out what to do with him.
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