For Los Angeles Lakers fans and even the coaching staff, they can be confident on a majority of nights that both LeBron James and Luka Doncic will show out and deliver a strong performance. While Austin Reaves' return should give them some more consistency, the rest of this roster has struggled to remain consistent this year.

Early in the season, offseason acquisition Deandre Ayton was playing some of the best basketball of his career. Through eight games to begin the season, he was averaging 17.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, and shooting 65.7% from the field, looking like a long-term option at center. However, his play began to fall off, becoming far less reliable.

After putting together some lackluster performances in prior contests for the Lakers, Ayton started to look like his early-season self on Friday night, posting 28 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks en route to a 142-111 win for the Lakers over the Washington Wizards.

He might've been in Doncic's shadow on Friday, who posted a 37-point triple-double, but head coach JJ Redick was asked about Ayton after the game regarding the team getting him more involved in Friday's contest.

"Thought we did a good job, whether it was out of pick-n-roll in the blitz, getting him the ball at the front of the rim. We also did a really nice job when he did have a mismatch down there of finding him on some early seals," Redick said.

Ayton was 12-of-14 against the Wizards, his best volume shooting performance since their January 18th win over the Toronto Raptors, where he finished 10-for-10. With all the attention on LeBron and Luka, it opened up opportunities for Ayton to find his looks against the Wizards' defense.

"He can get 14 shots without a play called for him. We're trying to create advantages to then allow him to get those shots at the rim or get those shots right at that six to eight feet [spot]...Five offensive rebounds, 13 overall rebounds. Three blocked shots, a steal, just his activity level for the full game was awesome," he added.

While it was a strong performance by Ayton, what matters is his consistency in the end. In the five games leading up to the Wizards game, he averaged 6.6 points and 6.0 rebounds on 41.7% shooting from the field.

Looking ahead for the Lakers and Ayton, they'll head to the final stop of their eight-game road trip in New York, where they'll face the Knicks and Nets. With two talented bigs in Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson, it will be a big test for Ayton to see if he can ride the momentum of his prior performance.