Deandre Ayton impressed in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 118-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on Friday in what was also an NBA Cup clash. While there was a lot to like about Ayton’s play against the Pelicans, he did make a bit of a mistake in the closing stages of the contest.
Ayton passed up an easy shot near the rim with just over 30 seconds remaining as he presumably didn’t want to run up the score. The 27-year-old appeared to be unaware of the point differential rules and admitted postgame that he didn’t know about it.
“I was a little confused,” Ayton said, via Dave McMenamin. “… Listen here, bro, just trying to get the dub and get up out of here… You see me, I didn’t want to shoot it ’cause I’m like that’s Willie Green. I didn’t really [want to rub it in]. Ain’t we just got to win the game? What does it matter with the points?”
Pelicans head coach Willie Green was an assistant for the Phoenix Suns during Ayton’s time there, and he didn’t want to run up the score against his team. The big man didn’t realize that if two teams have identical records in the cup, the one with the better point differential would advance to the knockouts.
“Oh, so that’s why Marcus Smart was on my tail like that,” Ayton stated. “… [He said], ‘Score the ball, DA!’… I’m like, ‘Oh, oh, my bad. Alright.'”
Ayton was then told that the differential wouldn’t matter in the Lakers’ group if they went 4-0, and he stated that it is indeed their goal. They are currently 2-0, and you’d back them to remain perfect as they have games against the struggling Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks left.
Where the point differential could still come into play, though, is in determining the seeding in the knockouts. If a team in each of the other two groups went 4-0 and had a better margin, the Lakers would be seeded below them, meaning they would lose out on homecourt in the quarterfinals.
It should come as little surprise that Ayton had no idea about any of this.
“I done messed up,” Ayton said. “Oh, that’s bad.”
Fortunately for the Lakers, the San Antonio Spurs lost 109-108 to the Golden State Warriors later in the night, which meant no team in West Group C will go 4-0. So, if they win every game in West Group B, the lowest they can finish is second. That, in turn, would mean the Lakers play the quarterfinals at home. They wouldn’t have known that at the time, though.
It is a bit surprising that the Lakers’ coaching staff didn’t tell the players beforehand that they should try to run up the score if they could. That is usually frowned upon, but it’s acceptable when it comes to the cup.
Still, that one mistake doesn’t take away from the fact that Ayton played very well against the Pelicans. He had 20 points (10-11 FG), 16 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block on the night.
Austin Reaves showered praise on Ayton after the game for a monstrous performance. The Lakers, who are now 9-4, are hard to beat when he plays that well.
Ayton and the Lakers are in action next against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on Saturday at 8 PM ET. The big man is going to have his hands full as he will be tasked with limiting Giannis Antetokounmpo’s impact on the game.
