Trail Blazers' Deandre Ayton: Excels in paint in return

Link copied!

Ayton (finger) totaled 16 points (7-10 FG, 2-2 FT), 12 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and one steal across 34 minutes in Wednesday's 121-114 loss to the Pacers.

Ayton stepped back into the starting five Wednesday after he had missed the Trail Blazers' previous seven games with a deep contusion in his right index finger. The Trail Blazers evidently weren't too concerned about Ayton's conditioning coming off the two-plus-week absence, as he handled a relatively standard minutes count and was efficient as a scorer while pacing the team in rebounds. Now that he's healthy again, Ayton should regularly clear 30 minutes in competitive games, especially while the Trail Blazers are shorthanded on frontcourt depth with Robert Williams in concussion protocol and with Donovan Clingan (knee) set to miss multiple weeks with a Grade 2 MCL sprain.