LOS ANGELES — It didn’t take Lakers starting center Jaxson Hayes long to provide a reminder on Sunday afternoon of what the team missed over the previous week while he was sidelined because of a bruised right knee.
Fourty seconds into the Lakers’ home win over the Phoenix Suns, Hayes fulfilled his help defensive responsibilities by deterring Suns guard Devin Booker from getting to the rim on a drive from the left corner. After Hayes cut him off, Booker made a dump-off pass to Phoenix big man Nick Richards, who fumbled the ball out of bounds.
On the Lakers’ ensuing possession, Hayes dove toward the rim out of a handoff with Luka Doncic, who drew two Suns defenders before whipping a bounce pass to Hayes at the rim for an and-1 layup.
Just one minute into the game, Hayes helped the Lakers score at the rim and prevented the Suns from finding success near the basket.
“Just the vertical spacer is massive,” Coach JJ Redick said pregame. “It’s not just in pick and rolls, but it’s on drives. Just the threat of that that Jaxson has provided has been so good for Luka, for LeBron [James], for [Austin Reaves], so excited to get that back.”
The Lakers had that back, and in abundance, with Hayes on Sunday.
Hayes finished with a season-high-tying 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, with all of his buckets being assisted by Doncic or Reaves out of pick-and-rolls or after the Suns sent help defenders toward Doncic or Reaves.
“You can see the difference,” Doncic said. “For me, it helps me a lot, but he helped the whole team. We missed him, for sure.”
In Hayes, the Lakers have a release valve for when opponents send multiple defenders toward the Lakers’ main ball handlers.
“The [trapping] in an ISO or the blitz in a pick and roll, you’re creating a four on three, and Luka has done that really well,” Redick said. “If you don’t have a threat at the rim, then it’s really just three on three and teams are able to scram back and get back matched up. That’s just vital and obviously, anytime you get to the blender, now you’re re-driving. Having someone that has the threat of catching a lob or getting a tip or getting a drop off pass for a dunk, that creates, we call it marginal indecision against offensive players that we’re trying to create with our defense. That creates marginal indecision for the defenders more.”
Hayes is also a good passer for his position, especially in the short roll after opponents put two defenders on the ball in the Lakers’ pick and rolls – a situation Hayes found himself in multiple times on Sunday.
He assisted Dorian Finney-Smith out of the short roll on a corner 3-pointer that put the Lakers up 103-92 with 1:43 left in the game.
“I’m real comfortable playing that spot,” Hayes said. “That’s been my job for years now. I just know that if somebody blitzes Luka or blitzes our guards and I got a short roll, when I get it there, I look and see somebody in front of the hoop in front of me, I know somebody in the corners is open so I just try to find which one it is.”
GOODWIN’S TIME
Two-way guard Jordan Goodwin started his second consecutive game despite the Lakers getting Gabe Vincent back after he sat out of Friday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets.
While Goodwin finished with just two points on 1-of-5 shooting and four fouls, Redick credited Goodwin with setting the tone for the Lakers.
“Never judge a player based solely on his box score – Jordan Goodwin was incredible,” Redick said. “He set the tone for us.”