LA Clippers: Against Deandre Ayton, small ball can’t measure up

Deandre Ayton is wrecking the LA Clippers’ small-ball lineup

With time winding down in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the LA Clippers appeared well-positioned to secure a victory and avoid falling into a 2-0 deficit for the third time this postseason.

Having already denied the Phoenix Suns’ first attempt to take the lead in the final seconds of the game – thanks to an errant corner 3 from Mikal Bridges – the Clippers needed only to survive nine-tenths of a second to even the series at one game apiece.

Unfortunately for LA, 0.9 seconds was more than enough time for the Suns to once again rip the heart out of the long-suffering Clippers fans.

Inbounding the ball along the baseline, perennial playoff hero Jae Crowder delivered a gorgeous lob pass to a diving Deandre Ayton, thanks not only to a lackadaisical defensive effort by DeMarcus Cousins – who was somehow both shaded in the wrong direction and barely able to get his feet off the ground to contest the pass – but by a perfectly executed down-screen set by Devin Booker on a trailing Ivica Zubac.

The resulting “Ayton-oop” (which is also, by the way, right up there with the “Immaculate Reception” for best-nicknamed plays in sports history) simultaneously consigned the Clippers to another sizeable postseason deficit while also serving notice that Ayton would not be the same toothless big man that LA had so often preyed against during the first two rounds.

Even after the Clips’ resounding victory in Game 3, it’s clear that LA will no longer be able to rely on the same small-ball lineup that propelled them to their first Conference Finals in franchise history.

Deandre Ayton is a new kind of problem for the LA Clippers 

Take what occurred with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter of Thursday’s action at Staples Center.

With Ayton taking the ball at the top of the key, the Suns ran Booker through a short wheel route through the paint in an attempt to spring their star two-guard from the ever-lurking presence of Patrick Beverley. Gaining a head of steam that allowed him separation from the trailing defender, Booker collected the ball from Ayton on a handoff as he rushed towards the basket, ready to wreak havoc.

It’s the secondary action that follows this point that demonstrates just how difficult a matchup Phoenix’s center has proven to be for the Clippers and just how deadly the Suns’ offense is when he’s on the floor.

With Zubac quickly anticipating the coming drive from Booker, the LA center abandoned his positioning behind Ayton to insert himself into the path of the Phoenix guard. As Terrance Mann sprinted out towards the 3-point arc to cover the popping Chris Paul, Ayton is, for a moment, left by himself near the free-throw line before quickly matching Bookers’ drive with a hard-roll to the basket of his own.

Suddenly realizing that the Suns’ center may be about to catch another lob-pass from Booker, Reggie Jackson compensated by leaving his corner assignment and rushing towards the restricted area to tag Ayton.

Just as they have done throughout the playoffs, Booker and the Suns immediately responded by exploiting the help with a quick pass to the defender-less Cameron Johnson alone in the corner, who promptly fired a three-point attempt that closed Phoenix’s deficit to one.

On its face, the set appears to be built primarily around the court awareness and ball-handling skills of Booker, and while both have been on full display throughout the postseason, the key detail of the action – and the secret of much of the Suns’ sauce on offense – is the ability of Ayton to force an overreaction by the defense.

Once Jackson rotates over to Ayton in the post, Phoenix is not only presented with a wide-open option in Johnson but a sizeable mismatch in the interior, even beyond that shot.

And unlike Rudy Gobert in the Conference Semifinals, LA’s rotations onto Ayton are not merely perfunctory but far quicker and more precise, owing to Ayton’s repeated success at pummeling them when is he left to his own designs.

Game 1 offered a perfect example of this.

As Cameron Payne brought the ball up court with six minutes remaining in the second quarter of that match, the speedy point guard began the action with a simple pick-and-roll with Ayton near the arc. With Jackson falling a step and a half behind Payne due to the big man’s pick, the Clippers’ small-ball lineup with Marcus Morris at center immediately switched and reacted to deny Payne an easy layup.

Unfortunately for LA, Payne casually tossed the ball back to the trailing – and mostly forgotten – Ayton, who finger-rolled the ball in for a layup.

Thirty seconds later, the result was much the same, as Payne once again got a first step on the defense following a handoff from Devin Booker at the elbow before dumping the rock off to a cutting Ayton once again for a dunk.

Working opposite the array of speedy guards the Clippers have faced throughout the playoffs, Ty Lue and his staff have chosen to prevent ball-handlers from penetrating the paint by opting for lineups that can switch everything and keep the ball in front of them. While this inevitably might cede a size advantage to the other side, the inability of Gobert or Kristaps Porzingis to beat them only emboldened that strategy.

Against Ayton, the Clippers are facing a big man that not only possesses the footwork and offensive repertoire to hunt mismatches in the post but one whose off-ball movement and awareness is even better.

In total, the Clippers have been able to keep the ball in front of them, but that hasn’t necessarily translated to keeping it out of the basket.

However, as Game 3 indicated, LA isn’t entirely helpless against Ayton.

About two minutes after Johnson’s corner 3, the Suns had Payne bring the ball up and initiate a screen with Booker near the elbow – a similar set-up to the one described from Game 1.

Unlike Game 1, though, the Clippers resisted the urge to switch and go into a rotation immediately and instead had Zubac shade over to show help – to discourage Payne’s drive – before quickly sliding back over to cover a potential roll from Ayton.

The result was a tough mid-range floater from Payne that ultimately went in, but one that the Clippers will likely live with considering the higher percentage alternatives.

The key for LA is having Zubac on the floor, balancing between showing just enough help to make the ball-handler think twice while not over-committing to the point where the Clippers are forced into a rotation and a mismatch the Suns can exploit with Ayton on the backside.

That Zubac also limited Ayton on the offensive glass while simultaneously becoming a scoring option himself was one of the critical reasons LA forced their way back into the series.

After daring opposing big men to beat them all postseason, the Clippers may have finally run into one, capable of doing just that.