Deandre Ayton Found His Groove Again? Did Postgame Press Conference Mean Anything?

The Lakers have an enigma at center, everyone knows that. On Tuesday, Deandre Ayton was a key piece of the team's success in a critical win over Minnesota. 

It's fair to say, though, that those results haven't been the standard since about the first five weeks of the year. 

It's also fair to say that there are games -- Sunday against the Knicks being a great example -- where Ayton plays well and the numbers don't jump off the page... and people still complain. Likely many who didn't watch the game. What matters for the Lakers, though, is a lot of the eye test stuff. How engaged is he? How quickly is he moving defensively? Is he battling on the boards? Setting hard screens? 

That stuff is often going to matter more than the number of points he scores, because on a team with Luka, Reaves and LeBron, there are only so many shots to be had. 

But getting Ayton on track consistently is a big thing for the Lakers if they want to move forward. 

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

 

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