Lakers HC JJ Redick Reveals Why Deandre Ayton Sat Out Second Half of Win vs Grizzlies

The shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers managed to outlast the similarly shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies in FedEx Forum on Friday, despite losing their new starting center for the entire second half of the game.

Deandre Ayton departed the matchup for LA's locker room at halftime, as reporters breathlessly waited for updates. He ultimately returned to the floor for the fourth quarter, although he never checked back into the action.

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Now, Lakers head coach JJ Redick has shed some light on why Ayton was missing in Memphis for the contest's second half.

According to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register, Ayton was dealing with back spasms. While he could have played in that fourth frame, he ultimately opted to not "risk it."

Los Angeles survived without him just fine, holding on to win its first Emirates NBA Cup contest of the season, 117-112. In his absence, Jaxson Hayes played 23:31, scoring just two points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field while grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out five assists and blocking a shot. Ayton finished the game with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 shooting from the charity stripe in 16:43.

An Uneven Start to Ayton's 2025-26 Campaign

The 7-footer out of Arizona has been something of a mixed bag to start the season. But it's early yet. In six games (well, five-and-a-half), Ayton has been averaging 14.8 points on 62.7 percent field goal shooting and 45.5 percent free throw shooting, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.8 blocks per.

The star of the show for Los Angeles against the Grizzlies was, of course, Luka Doncic. The 6-foot-6 All-NBA superstar guard was making his first appearance with the Lakers after sitting out the team's last three games with finger and leg injuries.

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And Doncic looked like he had missed no time at all, pouring in 44 points on 14-of-27 shooting from the floor and 10-of-13 shooting from the foul line, pulling down 12 rebounds, and passing for six assists. It marked his third 40-point-plus outburst this season, in as many games.

Guard Austin Reaves cooled off a bit from his explosive run in Doncic's absence. Still, he chipped in a respectable 21 points on a not-so-respectable 5-of-14 shooting from the field and 9-of-9 shooting from the foul line, plus four assists, four rebounds and a steal.

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