Ayton is so frustrated! He only took 5 shots after 20+10 in two consecutive games.

After five consecutive victories, the Lakers ushered in five consecutive visitors. Before playing the Hawks, the Lakers had 7 wins and 2 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference. This was achieved with Doncic missing four games, Reeves missing three games, and James missing all of them. This has exceeded expectations.

So, it doesn’t matter if the Lakers lose on the road. How can there be a team that doesn’t lose? But in this game, many Lakers fans pointed to Ayton as the reason for the loss.

Why is Ayton taking the blame?

In their view: At halftime, the Lakers trailed by 14 points 54-68. Daniels scored another two points at the beginning of the third quarter, and the Lakers trailed by 16 points. Then the Lakers finally gained momentum under the leadership of Doncic, and when they chased the point difference to 9 points, Ayton made two consecutive mistakes, causing the Lakers to be defeated.

When the Lakers returned to defense, Smart suddenly stole the ball and saved the ball. Ayton stopped and was observing the situation on the court. Doncic habitually threw the ball forward after taking the ball. It would have been fine if he went directly to the right, but he chose to go to Ayton's left side and hit him directly. Doncic's mistake can be said to have nothing to do with Ayton.

Let’s talk about Ayton’s passing error. Although Ayton can handle the pass, his passing ability is average. The pass to Doncic was destroyed by Okongwu with a wingspan of 2.18 meters. This is also a normal mistake. If we have to talk about mistakes, then Doncic made 5 mistakes in this game!

The Lakers were 9 points behind at the time. After Ayton made his second mistake, the opponent counterattacked and Smart fouled, and the point difference was widened to double digits. At that time, there was still a long time before the end of the third quarter, and the Lakers could continue to chase points. But Redick replaced Ayton and quickly withdrew the main force, surrendering.

Before this game, Ayton scored 29 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and 22 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks respectively in the games against the Trail Blazers and Spurs. He scored 20+10 in two consecutive games and was in very good offensive condition.

But in this game, Ayton played very frustrated!

In the first quarter, Ayton was a great threat at the basket. He made 3 of 3 shots and 1 of 1 free throws, scoring 7 points. It looked good. In fact, after Ayton completed an alley-oop dunk at 11 minutes and 17 seconds, he didn't get his second chance to attack the basket until 6 minutes and 47 seconds. At 4 minutes and 21 seconds, Knecter missed a three-pointer from the bottom corner. Ayton grabbed the offensive rebound and made it 2+1.

In the second quarter, Ayton played 8 minutes and only took 1 shot. At 6 minutes and 45 seconds, after Ayton screened Doncic, Doncic stopped the ball at the free throw line. Ayton stepped down in time and gave Doncic a chance to pass the ball. Ayton scored 2 points under the basket.

In the third quarter, Ayton and Doncic made a 15-point pick-and-roll at the top of the key. Ayton went down and received a pass from Doncic and dunked successfully. This was his only shot in this quarter. In the third quarter, Ayton only played less than 3 minutes.

Obviously, Ayton can absorb more ball rights in the interior, but he does not enjoy this treatment. In many rounds, Ayton ran out of position under the basket or got stuck to get the ball, but the ball could not be passed in. This greatly dampened Ayton's enthusiasm and was not conducive to Ayton's containment of the Hawks' defense.

Hachimura's pass to Ayton was outrageous

Then, Hachimura didn't dare to pass the ball to the inside. Ayton was going to alley-oop the ball. Hachimura himself threw a basket

Ayton got stuck and just wouldn't pass

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Look at Laravia's pass to Ayton

Doncic could also pass the ball to Ayton, but it was about to take off but Doncic didn't give it.

In this game, Ayton didn't even take a mid-range shot.

Although the Hawks arranged for Okongwu and Gueye, who are very athletic, to go crazy and defend Ayton, Ayton still has many opportunities to play singles under the basket, but Redick did not give Ayton too many offensive tactics.

In the post-game interview, when talking about being replaced in the third quarter, Ayton said: When Hayes was about to play, he knew that this game was over and we had to prepare for the next game.

This does not mean that Ayton has low emotional intelligence, because the rotation time in normal games is definitely not like this. He was replaced by Hayes in less than three minutes without foul trouble, which shows that Redick does not intend to strive for a comeback.

Ayton's interior offense is very important to the Lakers. You must not use Ayton as a blue-collar pie-eating center like Hayes. He is a center who can absorb more ball rights. This season, Ayton averages 14.4 points per game in the paint, ranking third in the league, second only to Antetokounmpo and Jokic. Why can't he be played more?