How Rui Hachimura hyped Deandre Ayton against the Timberwolves

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers managed to get into the win column on Friday night after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves, 128-110. While much of the focus was on A record night for Luka Doncic’s franchisea big part of the victory was increased aggressiveness Deandre Aytonespecially in the second part of the game.

For the Lakers forward Rui Hachimuranoticed the change in Deandre Ayton’s focus coming after halftime, and made sure to use it to get Ayton fired up.

“Especially in the second half … the first half he didn’t really play that well. After the first half went into the third quarter, I could see in his eyes that he was locked in. So I said, ‘Come on YES, let’s go,'” Hachimura said. “He was incredible, he rebounded, he was just a presence in defense, in attack… he did everything we asked, he was the man.”

In the win against the Timberwolves, Ayton finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and one block in 31 minutes. He shot 7 of 11 from the field. Ayton’s Lakers debut on opening night against the Golden State Warriors wasn’t bad; he finished with ten points and six rebounds while shooting 5-of-7 from the field.

The only problem with Ayton’s first game was that he was a little passive. That and it is clear that he is still building cohesion with his new teammates. After losing to the Warriors, Ayton admitted it was confusing at times for teammates to play with a center like him.

But on Friday, the rest of the team, especially Doncic, made a concerted effort to look for Ayton around the basket. He played violently and aggressively, and it felt like half of Doncic’s eight assists were outside Ayton’s end zone.

With the Lakers’ top two scorers, Doncic and LeBron James, sidelined for now, this upcoming stretch of games is a chance for Ayton to be even stronger on the offensive end.

Throughout his career, the former No. 1 overall pick has consistently put up borderline All-Star numbers. He holds career averages of 16.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 blocks on 59 percent shooting from the field and 75.3 percent shooting from the free throw line.

After the Lakers’ game against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, they return home on Monday for their second straight game against the Portland Trail Blazers.