Lakers vs Suns: Los Angeles’ Marcus Smart Gets Honest Before Phoenix Game

The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 9 p.m. ET at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.

The Lakers are entering the matchup as 5.5-point favorites, but as is the case in the NBA, anything can happen.

The Los Angeles Lakers are entering the game after a close and heartbreaking 110-109 loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, Feb. 24. So, they’re looking for a bounce back win. The good new for Los Angeles is that Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves are all available for the game, so this team is getting healthy just at the right time in the season.

After the Lakers’ loss to the the Magic on Tuesday, Marcus Smart was asked about the performance of the team and, in particular, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton. He was honest about all involved in the loss.

In a postgame interview with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, he commented on Ayton and said that he thinks the player has done “OK.”

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“He definitely could be better, we all could,” Smart said in the interview. “But the thing I love about it is he understands it, and he’s working. We all are trying to figure it out. This is new to everybody.”

Smart added, “He’s doing his best, but he understands it’s another notch that we need him to go to, and we’re going to try to get him there and help with that. But he knows he’s got to do his part, as well.”

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Ayton had a solid game against Orlando, ending the showdown with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Looking at the full season, in 49 games, according to research from Stat Musc, he’s averaging 13.2 points and 8.5 rebounds on 9.0 field goal attempts per matchup. While those are lows for him, they’ve certainly been helping Los Angeles pull off wins.