Lakers inside pillar: We trust Redick, without the three major stars, the bench players stepped up

In the previous NBA regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers at home 123-115. After this game, the Lakers' record, which had won 4 consecutive victories, improved to 6 wins and 2 losses; while the Trail Blazers' record dropped to 4 wins and 3 losses. After the game, Lakers starting center DeAndre Ayton accepted an interview with reporters. In the interview, he also talked about the team's performance in successfully winning despite the absence of many players and back-to-back games.

Ayton said: I think it all started in the training camp. We started the all-out mode from the beginning of the training camp. Head coach JJ Redick's requirements are very clear. No matter who is playing on the court, he only wants the Lakers to play their own style of basketball. Moreover, he just wants everyone to remain coachable, and he hopes everyone can do what the coach asks.

Ayton continued: JJ has been in this league for a long time, and he has won a lot both as a player and as a coach. So I feel like we can trust him with anything he says, and he's proven that many times. So this has become part of our daily training and competition, which is to treat the game with the right attitude and maintain our professionalism. This atmosphere began to spread in the team. As you can see in this game, everyone at the end of the bench was playing hard. They all stood up and scored a lot of points. This is very reliable and very remarkable. We don’t have LeBron James, we don’t have Austin Reaves, we don’t have Luka Doncic. It's a situation where you just take a deep breath, go out on the field, and realize that what we're doing is important and we're doing it very solidly.

In this game, Ayton made 14 of 19 shots and 1 of 2 free throws in 30 minutes and 35 seconds of playing time. He scored a team-high 29 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks in a double-double, which also included 4 offensive rebounds, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls, with a plus-minus of +8. Since the start of this season, Ayton has played a total of 7 times in the first 8 games, averaging 31.3 minutes per game, averaging 16.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. He also has 2.6 turnovers and 3.1 fouls. His field goal percentage is 65.1% and his free throw percentage is 46.2%. In fact, Ayton is a bit humble. In this game, Ayton became the team's undisputed inside pillar. His role on the court was very obvious, and he played his own characteristics on both offense and defense. His heroic performance was also a key factor for the Lakers to win despite the shortage of major generals.