Lakers’ Deandre Ayton ‘excited’ to start NBA Cup title race originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as your preferred source by clicking here.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ mission to win a second NBA Cup championship in three seasons begins Friday night against a young and feisty Memphis Grizzlies team led by Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
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Even with Luka Dončić and LeBron James still injured with a lower leg contusion and sciatica, respectively, Los Angeles still has a chance to pull off some key tournament wins behind their future All-Star guard Austin Reaves and strong center Deandre Ayton.
As for the latter of the two, the former No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft recently expressed to the media on Friday his desire to compete for an NBA Cup title in his first season as a Laker.
“I’m excited. We know in games like this we step it up a notch,” Ayton shared with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin before Friday’s game against Memphis.
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“I’m just happy we played the way we did.”
“We’re extremely confident going out (there) tonight.”
Ayton projects to be a huge help to the Lakers throughout their NBA Cup run after putting together several standout performances against some of the league’s best central talent in recent games.
The 7-foot big man averaged 16.0 points and 9.4 rebounds on an impressive 62.3 percent field goal percentage in his first five games with the franchise.
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During that stretch, Ayton produced a game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds in a win over the Sacramento Kings and three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis on Sunday night, and had 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds in a win Friday night over four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
With a battle with Memphis’ 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jackson Jr. looming, Ayton will have another chance to overshadow a formidable frontcourt star.
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