Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes was forced to play a much larger than expected role on Sunday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
With Christian Wood already out and Anthony Davis suffering an eye injury that limited him to only 12 minutes, head coach Darvin Ham had to turn to Hayes to play a considerable role. The backup big man wound up playing 33 minutes in what was arguably one of his best performances of the season.
Hayes finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five steals while shooting a near-perfect 8-for-9 from the field. And while the Lakers ultimately suffered a shorthanded loss that dropped them to No. 9 in the Western Conference, the performance from Hayes brought something to be happy about in the aftermath.
Ham discussed how Hayes played in Davis’ absence and believes it shows the type of player he can be under the right circumstances, especially given how he’s improved already this season.
“He’s a young player, someone that we’re extremely excited about, just his ceiling,” Ham said. “The sky is the limit for that kid. His energy, his attitude, his competitive spirit, it’s great and it’s on display as he’s gotten better game by game as the season has worn on.
“Not making the mistakes of fouling, being out of position, he’s doing a lot better job being in position early and showing his hands, not fouling, not getting the silly, non-necessary fouls. He’s great. His energy, his pace, the way he gets in and out of pick-and-rolls as a screener and is a constant lob threat, his ability to run end to end. It was much-needed. We came up short, but he did his part in trying to help us turn things around.”
Hayes was brought in as a project despite being his fifth NBA campaign. He did not make the improvements many expected out of him as a lottery pick for the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Lakers have been known to help turn around careers like his over the last few seasons.
Hayes has certainly made the most of limited opportunities playing behind one of the best big men in the sport. And it opens him up to extend his career and find better opportunities. Sunday’s game was the perfect example of what he can do when given that chance.
Lakers back in ninth after loss to Timberwolves
The Lakers’ good fortunes came to a halt when they hosted the Timberwolves. While L.A. is fighting to get out of the Play-In Tournament, Minnesota is jockeying for the number one seed in the Western Conference.
The Lakers came into the night shorthanded after James was ruled out with flu-like symptoms. However, they were dealt another blow mid-game when Davis was hit in the eye and ruled out for the remainder of the night. Los Angeles would end up getting blown out by Minnesota, dropping them back down to the ninth seed in a loaded Western Conference.
The Lakers were briefly tied with the Sacramento Kings for the eight seed before the latter blew out the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the day. Sacramento owns the tiebreaker over Los Angeles, so the purple and gold would likely need to win out to have a chance to leapfrog the Kings.
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