The Los Angeles Lakers' mission to notch a second NBA Cup championship in three seasons starts on Friday night against a feisty and young Memphis Grizzlies squad led by Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Even with Luka Dončić and LeBron James still banged up due to a lower leg contusion and sciatica, respectively, Los Angeles still has a fighting chance of pulling out a few key tournament victories behind their future All-Star guard Austin Reaves and solid center Deandre Ayton.
As for the latter of the pair, the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft recently expressed his hunger to compete for an NBA Cup title in his first season as a Laker to media members on Friday.
"I’m excited. We know games like this is when we turn it up a notch," Ayton shared with ESPN's Dave McMenamin prior to the contest against Memphis on Friday.
"I'm just happy we've been playing the way we've been playing."
"We have extreme confidence going out (there) tonight)."
Ayton projects to be a massive help for the Lakers throughout their NBA Cup run after churning out several stellar performances against some of the league's best center talent in recent games.
The 7-foot big man has averaged 16.0 points and 9.4 rebounds on an impressive 62.3% field goal percentage through his first five games with the franchise.
Over the course of that stretch, Ayton has produced a 22-point, 15-rebound game in a win against the Sacramento Kings and 3-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis on Sunday night, and poured in 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds in a Friday night victory over 4-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Heading into a battle with Memphis' 2023 Defensive Player of the Year in Jackson Jr., Ayton will have another chance to outshine a formidable frontcourt star.
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