How Deandre Ayton tapped into ‘biggest dude’ mentality to eliminate Rockets

The Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder following their 98-78 Game 6 win against the Houston Rockets. A big reason for why the Lakers advanced in the playoffs was Deandre Ayton outplaying the Rockets’ frontcourt.

Following the Lakers’ Game 6 win against the Rockets, Deandre Ayton spoke about the mentality he brought into the game in order for the team to advance in the playoffs, as per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“You have to have some type of stop sign where enough is enough. You have to match the physicality in a way where it’s contagious to your teammates as well,” Ayton said. “So I just tried to play as I am, the biggest dude on the court, and just go out and get every damn rebound. It got to a point where I didn’t even know I was hitting guys and giving certain blows just off boxing out.

“When there were switches, I took advantage of the glass, and when I’m in pick and roll I had position to box out and grab O-boards as well. It was just things I was really picking up throughout the series to affect the game.”

Ayton finished Game 6 with only seven points, but he pulled down 16 rebounds, only seven less than both Alperen Sengun (11) and Jabari Smith Jr. (12) combined. That was coming off a strong Game 5, albeit a loss, in which he grabbed 17 rebounds, with no Rockets player in double figures on the boards.

Throughout the series against the Rockets, Ayton averaged 10.8 rebounds, up from the 8.0 he averaged during the regular season. He’s going to have another tough task on the inside against Thunder big man Chet Holmgren.

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