JJ Redick shares thoughts on Jaxson Hayes' play for Lakers vs ...
Midway through the third quarter of the Lakers’ matchup against the Raptors on Sunday, Anthony Davis went down with an eye injury.
He was struck in the left eye by Jakob Poeltl and was taken out of the game as a precaution.
Jaxson Hayes replaced AD with 5:16 left in the quarter and the Lakers were down three, trying to remain undefeated at home.
The backup center delivered big for L.A., executing a monster dunk with under three minutes left in the third and ended the night playing 22 minutes, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds.
Hayes also had the best plus-minus on the Lakers with a +21.
Los Angeles cruised to victory, outscoring the Raptors 70-48 in the second half. Following the win, head coach JJ Redick discussed Hayes taking on a bigger responsibility in the game.
“Really, you’re in that situation and AD goes out and it requires more from everyone else,” Redick said. “And Jaxson stepped up to that moment, played both ends of the court and gave us a few extra possessions. Just his energy, I thought, really uplifted the group.”
Redick has done a superb job of pushing the right buttons on this team and placing players in position to succeed. With Hayes he’s been able to maximize his impact and minimize the amount of times he’s asked to do the things he’s weak at.
With no other bigs on the bench against the Raptors it all fell on Hayes to keep the team afloat without their MVP and his energy ensured the team’s production didn’t fall off of a cliff.
LeBron James found Hayes repeatedly for lobs and Austin Reaves was on the floor witnessing it all. During Reaves’ postgame comments he shared his thoughts on Hayes’ game.
“I thought Jaxson was amazing tonight, specially that third quarter on,” Reaves said. “I thought that he played probably one of his best games he’s played since he’s been here. Being active defensively, being a scorer in the pocket, rebounder. I thought he did a lot of really good things.”
Reaves might be right that this Raptors game was Hayes’ best of the season, but overall, he has been a star in his role for the Lakers.
He’s averaging 6.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, all numbers that are higher than his first season with the Lakers.
If he can continue to convert on his shots near the rim, attack the glass and not get burned on the defensive side, he’ll be just fine.
Now, let’s hope AD is healthy and available for the team’s next game against the Memphis Grizzlies so Hayes can remain a contributor on the bench and not be asked to carry this type of responsibility for an extended period of time.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
