- Sheldon Longley
- 7 hrs ago
- 0
When Bahamian DeAndre Ayton went to Portland, his words were clear – “I bring dominance. My name is DominAyton.”
With that, the Portland Trail Blazers welcomed their new starting center to “Rip City” – home of one of the more passionate fan bases in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
In seven games in Portland, Ayton has had his ups and downs.
Offensively he has struggled, but he is averaging a career-high in rebounds, more than his previous best by almost two rebounds per game. The Bahamian behemoth is scoring just 10.4 points per game, but is at 13.3 rebounds per game, second in the league only to Domantas Sabonis, of Sacramento, who is averaging 14.2 rebounds per game.
He is shooting 56.5 percent from the field, his lowest since his second year in the league with Phoenix.
As a team, the Trail Blazers have rebounded from a poor start to the season and are now around .500 basketball. They dropped their first three games before winning three in a row, and after losing to the Memphis Grizzlies, 112-100, on Sunday, they have a 3-4 win/loss record and will play their next three games on the road.
Included in his rebounding efforts this year is a massive 23-rebound night last week Monday against the Toronto Raptors. It is the highest total in the league for rebounds this season, helping the Blazers take down the Raptors, 99-91, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ayton’s previous single-game career-high was 21, done three times. He now has five 20-rebound games in his career, another one in the playoffs, and three 20-20 games.
In his last outing on Sunday, Ayton was held to six points in a woeful 3-for-9 shooting performance from the field and added 11 rebounds in their loss to the Grizzlies. It was the Grizzlies’ first win of the year.
Ayton and the Blazers will travel to Sacramento, California to play the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, before playing the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday. They will end their three-game road trip against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, next week Tuesday.https://1534e6803df92f414fbb43c585396955.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield and the Indiana Pacers were in action against the San Antonio Spurs last night but the result of that game was unavailable up to press time. The Pacers are at .500 basketball with a 3-3 win/loss record.
Hield is averaging 12.5 points on 43.1 percent shooting from the field in just 23.8 minutes per game. He is shooting 41.3 percent from three-point land. Coming off the bench this year, Hield is averaging his fewest points and minutes per game since his rookie season in the NBA, but continues a streak of at least one three-point shot made in 39 straight games – the third-longest streak of his career.
Hield and the Pacers will play their next two games at home, at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. They host the Jazz on Wednesday and the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.
Eric EJ’ Gordon is playing well for his new team, the Suns, averaging his most points per game in the last five seasons. The Suns are also around .500 basketball with a 3-4 record.
Gordon is averaging 15.3 points on 46.8 shooting from the field. He is shooting 36.4 percent from distance.
In their last outing, a 120-106 beating of the Detroit Pistons, Gordon matched a season-high with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field. He was 3-for-5 from distance.
The Suns travel to Chicago, Illinois, to face the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday before returning home for three games against the Lakers, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, Sunday and next week Wednesday.
There are no games in the NBA on Tuesday in an effort to encourage fans to vote on Election Day in the United States.