For just the ninth time this season, the Los Angeles Lakers had their starting five intact on Monday, and it paid dividends as they racked up another win in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The Lakers is one of the hottest teams in the league, winning six straight and nine of their last 10 games. Their latest victory came over the Houston Rockets on Monday, winning 100-92 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The Bahamian big man has certainly been doing his part. DeAndre Ayton has been a force in the middle, helping to solidy the Lakers’ lineup on both sides of the ball. He had one of his better games of the season during the 10-game stretch, scoring 23 points on 10-for-23 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 142-130 win for the Lakers over the Chicago Bulls at crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
In the win on Monday, Ayton had just seven points, and added 11 rebounds, but had a couple of key baskets late in the fourth quarter and a couple of defensive stops, helping the Lakers pull away from the Rockets.
In a little over two weeks, the Lakers have improved from sixth in the Western Conference in the NBA Standings to third, trailing just the league-leading defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in the west. They have a one-and-a-half game lead over the Rockets for the third spot in the standings. The season series between the Lakers and the Rockets is tied at a game apiece with just one more matchup to go. They play each other again tonight at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Ayton has started 59 games of 59 games played for the Lakers this season, and 450 of 457 played in his eight-year career. He is averaging a career-low in points and rebounds, but has been a factor at times, emphasizing his role as the primary big man, and the team has been building momentum. Ayton has showed high energy in recent games, and has stated “the ball finds energy” when he is active.
Ayton has had four double-digit scoring games during the 10-game stretch, and has logged significant minutes. He played just five minutes in a 120-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday March 5, but has since returned from left knee soreness, and is helping to lead the charge for the Lakers.
For the season, the Bahamian big man is averaging just 12.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, significantly below his career average of 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. However, he still shooting at a high clip from the field.
Ayton remains second in the league in field goal percentage, knocking down 66.7 percent of his shots this season. Just Minnesota Timberwolves starting center Rudy Gobert is better, connecting on 70.6 percent of his shots from the field. Ayton’s 66.7 percent shooting is the highest of his eight-year career. He shot 70.9 percent in March alone, which is his second-highest shooting percentage month of the 2025-2026 NBA season.
The former number one overall draft pick of the Phoenix Suns has been sporadic and inconsistent in his first year with the purple and gold, but is now increasing the intensity as the playoffs loom.
Ayton, now 27, is in the first year of a two-year deal with the Lakers, with a choice to opt out after this season. He signed a two-year $16.6 million contract with the Lakers in July 2025, utilizing their mid-level exception, after a buyout with the Portland Trail Blazers.
This is the first season in the league in which Ayton is not averaging a double-double, but he remains a force on both sides of the ball for the Lakers.
Ayton and the Lakers will try to extend the winning streak to seven games when they take on the Rockets in Houston tonight. They will then continue their six-game road trip with stops in Miami, Orlando, Detroit and Indiana before coming home for three games.
The Lakers have just 14 games remaining in the season. When they are healthy, they have been competitive, and they look to stay that way for the rest of the season, but have been heavily impacted by injuries and late-season lineup adjustments.