Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton was ruled out of the second half of Sunday night’s game of the Utah Jazz with a right knee contusion.
Ayton was dealing with an illness that kept him out of practice earlier in the week but was able to make the trip to Utah and suit up for the Lakers. He played 13 minutes in the first half and had two points and three rebounds, although he appeared to be hobbling towards the end of the second quarter.
After halftime, Jaxson Hayes started the third quarter in place of Ayton and the starting center was eventually ruled out for the rest of the night.
The hope is that his removal is just precautionary, but the Lakers will return to the court on Tuesday night against the L.A. Clippers so his status will be worth monitoring.
Without Ayton, Hayes will likely continue to run with the starters while Maxi Kleber and Jarred Vanderbilt could split the backup minutes.
The Lakers dealt with numerous injuries to start the season but finally just got fully healthy for the first time, so this could be another challenge for them to overcome in the short-term.
Deandre Ayton getting comfortable in pick-and-roll with Lakers guards
Before Deandre Ayton went down with the injury, he was playing some great basketball and recently spoke about how much more comfortable he’s getting in the pick-and-roll with the Lakers’ guards.
“Yeah, they’re doing a good job of just keeping their guy on one side and me just getting out the way after that. Putting pressure on the rim and me just trusting them to be playmakers. JJ really emphasized that Austin and Luka are our main playmaking guys and whatever they see, get them guys open and the rest leave it on them. And it’s been going smooth, I like it like that. It’s just understanding that they want me to set screens and them communicating like OK, DA, get out now. It makes my life very easy.”
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