DeAndre Ayton was contained against the “small-ball” approach by Clippers

All postseason long, nobody has seemed to have an answer on how to stop DeAndre Ayton. Whether it has been scoring in the paint, grabbing rebounds or playing great defense on guys like Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic, Ayton has done everything right for the Suns, but was quiet in Game 5 of this series. 

Entering Game 5, DeAndre Ayton was averaging 20.3 points, 13.5 rebounds and was coming off a game in which he grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds, yet the Clippers neutralized him without Ivica Zubac on the court. 

Ayton played 37 minutes for the Suns in this game and only scored 10 points on 5-9 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds. This was the first-time all series long that DeAndre Ayton had been held under double-digit shot attempts and even though he had a double-double, he finished with a +/- differential of -22, the worst out of any player in Game 5. 

Being able to contain DeAndre Ayton in this game was a big win for the Los Angeles Clippers and directly contributed to them being able to upset the Suns on their homecourt in Game 5. Moving forward and preparing for Game 6, the Clippers will have to game plan accordingly though because it is highly unlikely that this approach will work again. 

READ MORE: NBA Rumors: Here’s how the Clippers could trade for Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan

They swarmed Ayton everytime he got the ball and made life tough on him in this game, but he also did not have his best performance. With the expectation that Ayton will come out hot in Game 6 and be super aggressive on the boards, Los Angeles will have to continue to find ways to “bully” DeAndre Ayton and make life tough on him. 

If they allow him to go off again in Game 6, then this series may very well come to an end. Stopping him and not letting him get going offensively is a major key to this series for the Clippers and with or without Ivica Zubac on the court, they will need to find more ways to make him a non-factor for the Suns.