Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton downplayed the idea of feeling extra motivated Tuesday night as he did his part to beat his former team, the Phoenix Suns, 109-104.“It’s just a different team,” Ayton said after scoring 16 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. “I think all that emotion and hype has gone out the window.
And I just focused on being a Trail Blazer and asserting ourselves and who we are. I’m too focused on that right now to really care about the Suns. It’s just an obstacle.However, teammates Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant weren’t entirely convinced Ayton had any extra incentive against the team that selected him No. 1 overall in 2018 and traded him to the Blazers in October.“He’s going to be normal whether he knows it or not,” Simons said after being informed of Ayton’s comments. “I feel like there’s always that extra motivation to play against your former team.”Grant certainly saw the difference in Ayton on the court against the Suns.“I think he came out with some strength tonight,” Grant said. “I think it’s been good for us. He was also aggressive on both ends of the pitch. Lots of bounces. So he definitely took care of the color for us.The trick going forward is to pull out this version of Ayton most nights and not just sporadically.“We have to figure out how to motivate him every night, because when he plays that well, we’re a much better team,” Grant said.Ayton played 40 minutes against the Suns, and although he only hit 6 of 18 from the floor, he was more confident when it came to stopping shots. His 18 attempts were a season high. Ayton has taken fewer than 10 shots in five of his previous seven outings and is averaging 10.4 on the season. He managed to average 12.1 points per game during that time, making 58.1% of his shots.For the season, he is averaging 12.6 points and 10.7 rebounds on a shooting percentage of 55.7%. Last season with the Suns, he averaged 18.0 points on 58.9% shooting and 13.2 shots per game. Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said he had thought about playing Ayton more minutes to get him going. Ayton is averaging 31.6 this season.“Forty is a lot,” Billups said. “But he is in phenomenal shape. And he never asked out or anything. I think he played a phenomenal game the whole game.”Simons said the Blazers tried to get the ball to Ayton early and often.“That boosted him and boosted him because he was dominant in the paint for us,” Simons said.The first play Billups called, Ayton said, was for him. “Coach wanted me to settle in early and get my flow and rhythm early,” Ayton said. “The way we do it is when my teammates take care of me and find me in the places I like.”Billups had no problem with Ayton’s poor shooting that night. “He missed some of those shots, I’m happy he got them,” Billups said.Ayton bounced back from a 1-for-4 start in the first quarter — when the Blazers trailed 36-20 — and scored seven points in the second quarter, but shot 2-for-7. He came out strong in the second half with 10 points and seven rebounds as the Blazers played one of their best parts of the season.While Ayton doesn’t always play with the same aggressiveness he used against the Suns, his lack of shot attempts isn’t entirely his fault. The Blazers haven’t played much for Ayton this season, and he’s played with several guards and Grant, who chase their shots more often than the big man at center. Simons, who missed eighteen games with a thumb injury and thus developed some chemistry with Ayton, has rarely encountered an open shot in his career that he failed to make. The challenge ahead is to convince Simons and Ayton to work well together to increase their chances of both scoring and playing for others. This is especially important when opponents rush Simons to snatch the ball from his hands. Billups said he saw good progress against the Suns in responding to such plays from both Ayton and Simons.“There were some moments in today’s game where they started to blitz (Simons) and DA got the ball high on the floor,” Billups said. “I thought he made some great passes to our guys, on time and accurately.”Ayton said he worked harder to get out of pick-and-rolls quicker and get to his spot earlier to help Simons read plays faster. Ayton also said he was gradually learning how the league played against Simons and how he could pay it off for giving him too much attention.“I just see how much teams around the league respect him and how different teams insult him,” Ayton said. “Tonight the ball moved a lot where he put me in the pocket and I just got a few looks. This is what they gave us and this is what we took.The duo’s efficiency and execution in this area should only improve over time, Billups said. “I think those two will get better and more comfortable with each other,” Billups said. “And then we start, on the back side, getting more comfortable with DA and giving him some material to read. I like that they stayed aggressive the whole time and kind of got it.Confidence is also developing in the defense field.“We’ve really solidified our defense to the point where they trust you as the anchor, they send me everything and they trust our defense, go through transition to start our offense,” Ayton said.
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