Lakers
The Lakers continue to win. How they’re doing it is drawing some attention.
Deandre Ayton finished with just six points in Tuesday’s Game 2 victory over the Rockets and wasn’t part of the closing group. Still, neither Ayton nor coach JJ Redick sounded concerned afterward.
As Dan Woike of The Athletic detailed, the Lakers have been pleased with the work Ayton is doing away from the box score. Screening. Switching. Holding up defensively.
“We love giving DA praise,” Redick said. “When he does what we ask him to do, he should get all the praise in the world. He’s doing a lot of thankless work at times.”
The fourth-quarter decision came down to flow more than anything else. Jaxson Hayes had it going, and the Lakers stayed with it. Redick said as much in his conversation with Ayton.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he told him. “It was just a group out there was winning.”
That’s where things stand. Ayton’s role may fluctuate night to night, but internally, there doesn’t appear to be much panic.
Spurs
For Spurs guard Keldon Johnson, the Sixth Man of the Year award came with some perspective.
Johnson has long been known as one of the team’s emotional tone-setters. But as relayed by Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News, this season has not been without its challenges.
Johnson’s grandfather has been battling cancer back in Virginia, limiting the time Johnson has been able to spend with family.
“With what I had going on, on the days I didn’t have it, I was able to come here and my teammates picked me up,” Johnson said. “It’s like one big family.”
It’s a reminder that even in a season that ends with hardware, there’s often more happening behind the scenes.
Rockets
The Rockets are running out of time.
Down 2-0 to the Lakers, Houston heads into Game 3 facing what already feels like a pivot point. As Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle noted, a first-round exit to a short-handed opponent would likely force some difficult offseason conversations.
It starts with Alperen Sengun.
According to William Guillory of The Athletic, the next two games could be the most important of Sengun’s career to this point. If the Rockets are going to climb back into the series, it will likely run through him.
The window is still open. But it’s starting to narrow.
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Durant lost game 2 all by his self. He was awful.
Sengun looked great last year on a team who knew how to move the ball. The Durant move does not look good right now. He does not fit there. He is not physical at all, and getting weaker and weaker. Should be his last season in my opinion. He doesn’t carry a team at all. anymore.