HOUSTON — The two castoffs were triumphant in the Toyota Center visiting locker room.
On Friday, they helped the Los Angeles Lakers close the door on their first-round series with the Houston Rockets.
But 10 months ago, they were unemployed. The Portland Trail Blazers had bought out center Deandre Ayton’s contract; the Wizards had bought out guard Marcus Smart’s.
Advertisement
Last year, the Lakers had an unbalanced and incomplete roster. Last July, the Lakers added Ayton and Smart in the offseason following an upset loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2025 Western Conference quarterfinals.
Yet, even this year, with Ayton and Smart, this was a Lakers team that tried to lower expectations by referring to an imperfect roster around stars Luka Dončić and LeBron James. But Ayton and Smart represented the kind of boom-or-bust risks that a team like the Lakers needed to take. Ayton and Smart had positional size and the kind of pedigree that offers players like them additional chances.
The Lakers needed defense and a plan to help Ayton focus. In Los Angeles, Smart and Ayton have their lockers next to each other, a nod to how the 32-year-old Smart helps keep the 27-year-old Ayton locked in.
After the Lakers’ 98-78 series-clinching Game 6 road win against the Rockets, Ayton and Smart were getting ready for postgame media. It was decided that Ayton would speak at his locker, while Smart would go to the podium.
“Somebody gotta go,” Smart told Ayton. “Somebody gotta take a charge. Let me take a charge. I might block it. But I’ll take a charge.”
Ayton looked at Smart and said: “You took a lot of them things today, boy.”
Ayton was telling the truth: Smart did what Smart does, drawing three Houston offensive fouls in Game 6, including one on Rockets All-Star Alperen Şengün. Houston unsuccessfully challenged, costing the Rockets their second challenge and a timeout.
No team drew more charges in the regular season than the Lakers, and no Laker drew more charges individually than Smart, whose 20 charges drawn trailed only Jalen Brunson (29) and Brandin Podziemski (23) during the regular season. Smart’s three charges drawn in Game 6 were more than any other player has drawn so far for the entire postseason. He has drawn four charges in this year’s playoffs, while Portland’s Toumani Camara (two) is the only other player with more than one.
Advertisement
Smart had two steals to go with the charges. He also had two blocks. But he doesn’t normally have two of those. Smart got Amen Thompson in the first half before adding a third-quarter block of Tari Eason that required Smart to jump higher than he probably had all season, peeling off of Thompson to meet Eason at the rim. That one got Ayton out of his seat on the bench.
“When Marcus loads up like that in the low man, you know, it really ignites us,” Ayton said of Smart’s block of Eason. “That was a moment right there, with multiple efforts, putting out fires. Probably wasn’t even Marcus’ position to be as a low man. But he’s looking for his brother, looking out for his bro, low man on the island.”
I asked Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, what plays he was most proud of defensively between the charges and the blocks.
“I’d probably say the block was my favorite,” Smart told The Athletic. “I was down there, low man. And I had two defenders. And I made a choice. It could have been ugly, it could’ve been going the other way. But it was a big momentum for the team. It got us really going.
“We got out on the break. And that’s just demoralizing. Guy’s taking charges, and then one of the smallest guys on the court is also getting up to protect the rim? That’s tough.”
While Smart was making the splash plays defensively in Game 6, Ayton closed out a workmanlike series with a game-high 16 rebounds, adding a second-quarter block of Şengün as well that forced one of three Rockets shot clock violations. Of Ayton’s 16 boards, 13 of his rebounds came after missed Rockets shots, while Houston was held to single-digit offensive rebounds (eight) for the second consecutive game despite the Rockets making only 35 percent from the field. It was an effort that Smart did not want to go unnoticed.
Advertisement
“I’m just proud of D.A. man, big time,” Smart told The Athletic. “I know everybody’s giving D.A. a lot of s—, but we know what he’s capable of. When he’s locked in, we know that D.A.’s gonna be dominating for us.
“We’re happy to have him on the team.”
Ayton has been playing with a massive chip on his shoulder. The first pick in the 2018 draft, selected two spots ahead of current All-Star teammate Luka Dončić, Ayton has carried high expectations since the Phoenix Suns selected him out of the University of Arizona. Like Smart, Ayton has played (and lost) in an NBA Finals with the team that drafted him.
But Ayton’s exits from the Suns in 2023 and the Trail Blazers last year were unceremonious, putting Ayton on a contract in Los Angeles, where he has an $8.1 million player option this offseason. Ayton made it clear that he is playing for more than just the name on the front of his Lakers jersey. He has a hunger to change his own perception in the NBA.
“I am attacking me,” Ayton told The Athletic. “I gotta change the narrative of me, you know what I’m saying? People talk s— about D.A. I already know my job with the Lakers. I do my job, and I’m on to the next one.”
Ayton has said all season that he just wanted to get to the playoffs and prove he was a difference-maker. Now that the Lakers are in the semifinals, Ayton isn’t discounting the importance of the moment.
“Playoffs is where it counts, and sometimes you just have to have that grit of saying, ‘Bro, f— however we get it, let’s just die about it,’” Ayton told The Athletic. “You know how much s— we’ve gone through this series from Game 1? They kicked our asses and went home, stole one from us? That s— hurt.”
Şengün, who absorbed a forearm to the head in Game 4 from Ayton that resulted in a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2 and Ayton’s ejection, came up to greet Ayton after Game 6 to wish him well. Şengün made only 14-of-34 shots in the series in Ayton’s coverage, per NBA Advanced Stats. That effort isn’t lost on Ayton.
Advertisement
“I know I got to take care of games and help the Lakers win,” Ayton said. “Going out there, being one of the best two ways on the floor, altering Şengün’s shots. You know, making it difficult for him. I’m not going to say I stopped him. That (guy’s) a real All-Star. I’d just say, I altered his shots, contested his shots, tried my best.
“He made me work. I thought I was making him work; he made my ass work. So yeah, he deserves much respect.”
The Rockets may have been in the Lakers’ way. However, this Lakers team folded so thoroughly last year against the Timberwolves that only five players played in an entire second half for a game: Dončić, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, current Rocket Dorian Finney-Smith, and Rui Hachimura. Center Jaxson Hayes, now Ayton’s backup, was deemed unplayable against the Timberwolves.
This year, Smart replaced Jordan Goodwin, while Ayton essentially replaced former Suns lottery pick Alex Len. Even with Dončić missing the series and Reaves missing the first four games, the Lakers benefitted from a normal allocation of depth. Ayton and Smart were major parts of that.
“We know, we understand the playoff is a different game,” said Hachimura, the only Laker other than James who played in each game of last year’s postseason and so far this postseason, to The Athletic. “The physicality is the number one thing. Being physical has literally changed the whole game. And I think Marcus, start with Marcus, and D.A., just the presence makes it a lot different.
“I think we understand how important those two, especially Marcus, are, bringing everything every night. He’s got like five charges, that’s unreal play that the people don’t talk about enough, but that’s really big.”
Now, it’s on to Oklahoma City Tuesday for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. The assignment changes specifically for Smart and Ayton. Smart will be charged with guarding the reigning MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Ayton will face bigs Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams, who are different than Şengün, and All-Star power forward Chet Holmgren, who often plays center. Ayton is looking forward to not getting “beat up” with as many elbows in his ribs and shoulders.
Advertisement
“We got OKC — now, it ain’t nobody in the post,” Ayton said. “We’re guarding one through five. … My energy might have to be on scoring. Put some energy on just being a big, big target.”
The Lakers have three days to get ready for the shift that comes with transitioning from the Rockets to the Thunder. That the Lakers were able to close a series without needing 100 points is a testament to the personnel added to give their defense a chance in the postseason. Houston had more turnovers (14) than assists (13) in Game 6 while missing 30 of 36 shots outside of the paint and attempting only 24 free throws. The Lakers had seven more offensive rebounds than Houston and forced three more turnovers to win the possession battle soundly in Game 6. Ayton’s size and Smart’s tenacity played a major role in that.
“Defense and multiple efforts, that’s all we’re here for,” Ayton said of himself and Smart. “Defense, closing our possessions, adding that grit to the team. And you let the rest of the superstars do their thing.”
And that’s been the goal all along.
“It makes us feel good,” Smart told The Athletic. “It makes us feel that, when we’re locked in like that and everybody’s clicking, we can do some damage.
“We’re not perfect, but to have everybody count you out and come out there and put on that type of performance means a lot.”
a.showcase-link-container {
display: flex;
gap: 20px;
flex-direction: column;
align-items: center;
padding: 20px 0px;
border-top: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);
border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);
text-decoration: none;
color: #121212;
cursor: pointer;
.showcase-link {
font-family: nyt-franklin;
font-size: 14px;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 700;
line-height: 13.8px;
letter-spacing: 1.1px;
text-transform: uppercase;
}
.showcase-link-image {
border-radius: 8px;
object-fit: cover;
width: 200px;
height: 150px;
margin: 0px;
@media (max-width: 600px) {
width: 120px;
height: 120px;
}
}
.showcase-link-inner-content {
display: flex;
flex-direction: row;
gap: 16px;
width: 100%;
}
.showcase-link-text-content {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
gap: 20px;
justify-content: center;
@media (max-width: 600px) {
gap: 8px;
}
}
.showcase-link-title {
font-family: nyt-cheltenham;
font-size: 24px;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 500;
line-height: 120%; /* 24px */
letter-spacing: 0.01px;
text-overflow: ellipsis;
overflow: hidden;
display: -webkit-box;
-webkit-box-orient: vertical;
-webkit-line-clamp: 3;
@media (max-width: 600px) {
font-size: 16px;
}
}
.showcase-link-excerpt {
font-family: nyt-imperial;
font-size: 16px;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 400;
line-height: 139%; /* 19.46px */
color: #323232;
text-overflow: ellipsis;
overflow: hidden;
display: -webkit-box;
-webkit-box-orient: vertical;
-webkit-line-clamp: 4;
@media (max-width: 600px) {
font-size: 12px;
line-height: 121%;
}
}
}
.showcase-link-inputs {
.showcase-link-input {
width: 100%;
font-size: 1rem;
background-color: white;
margin-bottom: 12px;
}
.showcase-link-indent {
margin-left: 25px;
}
option {
width: 100%;
}
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
.native-mobile a.showcase-link-container {
background-color: #121212;
color: #f0f0ee;
.showcase-link-excerpt {
color: #c4c4c0;
}
}
}
// Remove all onclicks on imgs for apps to prevent image zoom on click
document.querySelectorAll(‘.showcase-link-image’).forEach((img) => img.removeAttribute(‘onclick’));
