This is the Deandre Ayton the Portland Trail Blazers need to see on a much more regular basis.

Ayton scored 18 points with 17 rebounds during the Blazers’ 137-131 overtime win Wednesday night at the Houston Rockets. It was by far Ayton’s best performance since returning after missing 11 games with right knee tendinitis, and of course the one game last week when he was unable to get to the arena because of the sheet of ice that covered Portland for a few days.

The Blazers needed every bit of Ayton’s contributions to help counter the 30 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists that Houston center Alperen Sengun put up.

Ayton, who in his first three games since returning averaged just 7.7 points on 37.9% shooting with 6.3 rebounds, shot 8 of 13 from the field against the Rockets. He also had three assists, two blocked shots and a steal.

“Deandre played great,” Blazers guard Anfernee Simons told reporters after the game. “That’s what we need from him. To be a presence like that. He had a tough assignment with Sengun tonight. I think he handled himself well. We put him in a lot of different coverages tonight. He took everything well and he was able to execute and do it at a high level tonight.

Ayton entered the night averaging 12.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. The Blazers (13-31) simply need more from him.

— The Oregonian