Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers dropped Game 1 of their second-round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-90. LA was in this game through the first 24 minutes, trailing by just eight points at halftime, and a big reason for that was Deandre Ayton.
DA had 10 points and six rebounds and was a consistent paint presence for the Lakers during the first half.
The issue was that he wasn't disciplined defensively and was halfway to fouling out as the third quarter started. Then he would pick up his 4th foul at around the eight-minute mark of the third, and JJ Redick had no choice but to bench the Lakers' starting center for the remainder of the quarter.
This made it ten times easier for a Thunder team that was starting to heat up as they left the quarter with a 12-point lead and closed things out in the fourth.
Ayton's troubling defensive effort put LA in a horrible spot, and specifically put Jaxson Hayes in an incredibly tough spot. All season long, it felt like Ayton was always going to be the staff's first choice at center. However, at times, Hayes flashes starter-caliber play for the Lakers, and it appears they may need that side of him to reappear for a chance to knock off the defending champions.
Jaxson Hayes may be the Lakers' biggest X-factor in Thunder series
Now I doubt in Game 2 of this series that we see Ayton find himself in major foul trouble as early as he was in Game 1. But in the same breath, the Thunder are a team that finds a weakness, exploits it, and continues to attack it throughout a series
This means Hayes has to be ready to go. In Game 1, he simply wasn't.
It is tough to really blame Hayes if the guy ahead of him was on track for a 20-point, 12-rebound night. The Lakers were only trailing by just eight at the half. Who would have expected to check back? But they needed him to, and he looked really shaky, finishing the game with three points and six rebounds on 1-of-3 shooting from the floor.
Going forward, LA is going to need Hayes to kick back into the gear he was in towards the end of March, when we saw him dominating in the pick-and-roll and crushing the glass. Hayes' best trait has always been his energy, and in the postseason, that can really translate.
Seeing a guy check in, fly all over the court, and bring major hustle can be a reality check for the other four guys wearing purple and gold on the court. That's not to say that Hayes needs to have a 21-point, 10-rebound night like he did in the regular season versus the Indiana Pacers.
But if Ayton continues to struggle with maintaining discipline, the Lakers are going to need Hayes to bring the type of energy he brought in that Pacers game. With the Thunder having two elite bigs in Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, the Lakers need some juice, especially when Ayton's out of the game. That's Hayes' job.
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