Trail Blazers’ Deandre Ayton elevates play to new levels: ‘I’m trying to be a winner’

Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton has recently taken his game to the next level and seems determined that this run of excellence will not be fleeting.

Ayton scored 33 points with 19 rebounds Monday night to help the Blazers earn a 106-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at the Moda Center. That came after he made 22 and 15 in Monday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics, following up a 30 and 19 performance in Saturday’s win against the Toronto Raptors.

“Honestly, I go into these games, I try to do everything,” Ayton told reporters Wednesday night. “Not only am I fulfilling my requirements, my role for this team, but I’m doing so much more and that’s where I am. I’m more dominant. People like to laugh about it, but it’s the truth.

If Ayton continues to play at this level, the only people laughing will be the Portland Trail Blazers. They acquired Ayton last offseason in a trade with the Phoenix Suns, hoping the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft could take his game to an elite level.

“I think we unlocked him and we’re getting the best version of him offensively, that’s for sure,” the Blazers coach said. Chauncey Billups told reporters. “It’s a monster. It’s a monster on this glass. He’s just been everywhere. Super, super effective obviously. So it’s been great. And I think our guys are kind of following his lead. He gave us so much.

Wednesday marked the fifth straight time Ayton scored at least 20 points with 10 rebounds in a game he finished. In the only game of that stretch he didn’t finish — Jan. 27 against Miami — Ayton had 12 points and six rebounds before a wrist injury kept him out in the second half.

Prior to this game, Ayton scored 26 points with 19 rebounds in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets and 22 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Denver Nuggets.

To be fair, Ayton actually started elevating his game on January 24, a few games after returning from missing 12 games (11 because of a knee injury and one because of an ice storm). It took him a few games to get his rhythm back before scoring 18 points with 17 rebounds in a win over the Houston Rockets.

Starting that night, Ayton averaged 19.1 points with 12 rebounds while shooting 62.1 percent from the field heading into Wednesday.

Before January 24, Ayton averaged 12.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game on 53.1% shooting.

Ayton has clearly become more aggressive on offense and is not at all hesitant to stick his mid-range jumper. Additionally, the chemistry the Blazers hoped would develop between Ayton and guard Anfernee Simons is starting to take shape after injuries to both stunted their growth.

Ayton called their pick-and-roll chemistry “lit” and said the hours spent watching film together and improving their communication were paying off.

“Everything flows,” Ayton said. “We have that little language with our body language, our eye contact and things like that where we know what the defense is giving us. It’s like music, just good chemistry.

Ayton’s inability to stay motivated dogged him during his time with the Suns. This season, he has seemed to exhibit similar issues with the Blazers at times, leading to some criticism. Ayton said he heard his “haters” and loved that they were picking on him.

“It pushes me to approach this match the right way and carry the PDX on my back until the end,” he said. “So, I thank them. I wear the cape all the way.

The goal, he says, is to be big.

“I’m trying to win in this league,” he said. “I’m trying to be known as that guy. If you’re with me, you’ll learn how to win.