The Los Angeles Lakers closed out their 2025-26 regular season on Sunday by blowing out the Utah Jazz, 131-107, giving them a 53-29 record to end the campaign. At around the same time, the Denver Nuggets held off the San Antonio Spurs, which gave the Lakers the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Los Angeles will thus play the Houston Rockets, the fifth-seeded team in the West, in the first round of the NBA playoffs beginning on Saturday, April 18. Deandre Ayton, who had a strong performance on Sunday with 22 points and 10 rebounds, was told his team would face the Rockets, and he acted surprised.
“How do you know this?” Ayton asked.
When the reporter who told Ayton L.A. is playing Houston responded by saying the league announced the matchup, Ayton said, “Let me get a chance to go look at it.”
Whether he believed it and was feigning surprise or genuinely didn’t know about the matchup, he will be a big key. All season long, his scoring production has been up and down, but some scoring will be needed from him on a consistent basis. Even more than that, Los Angeles will need him to consistently rebound and defend, especially considering it will be going up against Alperen Sengun.
Sengun has made the All-Star team in both of the last two seasons and averaged 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists a game this season.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Deandre Ayton acts surprised when told Lakers will play Rockets
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
