Marcus Smart, Austin Reaves praise Deandre Ayton's performance

“He’s been saying it all year, just wait until I get to the playoffs,” Smart said. “It’s a different side of him that fans haven’t seen that we expect, that we know he can give and he knows it. He’s ready. He’s been locked in from the start and that’s what we’ve asked from everybody.

“But to have him being able to step up one-on-one, it allows us to fan out to their shooters. He’s huge. I have nothing more to say. I could sit here all day and talk about DA. I love him, I’m proud of him and I’m proud to see that he’s finally getting that confidence that he’s been looking for and playing very well for us.”

Per Sports Illustrated, Austin Reaves told the media how well a job Ayton did defensively against Sengun, who didn't have his usual impact in this series.

“I went up to him right after the game and told him he was one of the biggest factors of us winning tonight, his physicality, guarding Sengun,” Reaves said of Ayton’s performance in Game 6. “The way he rebounded the ball offensively, defensively. Sixteen rebounds is a big number. Just his presence and his physicality and the way that he can guard in the post one-on-one, and then if we're getting hurt with something else, he can switch one through five. Just his versatility.”

In all, Ayton averaged 11.8 points on 60.4% field-goal shooting and 10.8 rebounds a game versus Houston. More than anything, Los Angeles has needed him to defend and rebound at a high level, and he did exactly that.

Now he will need to continue his fine play against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who have two impactful big men in Isaiah Hartenstein and All-Star Chet Holmgren. Game 1 will take place on Tuesday, and while Oklahoma City is heavily favored, L.A. will look to pull off another upset.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Marcus Smart, Austin Reaves praise Deandre Ayton's performance