D’Angelo Russell’s second stint with the Los Angeles Lakers is going a lot better than his first one, but the play-in game against the Minnesota Timberwolves certainly wasn’t his finest hour.
Russell was, in fact, so bad in the game, that head coach Darvin Ham sat him on the bench for almost the entirety of the fourth quarter and overtime. Despite that, he isn’t losing any confidence in himself.
“If I’m not making shots, I can still control the game, simple as that,” Russell said. “If I’m making shots, the game’s probably over. So, just knowing that I’m that type of player, not losing any confidence with whether coach doesn’t decide to go with me or if he does.”
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Playing against his old team, Russell shot 1-9 from the field and 0-7 from beyond the arc. He did have 8 assists, but it was clear he just didn’t have it that night, so Ham instead put Dennis Schroder in the game and it proved to be the right call. The German played very well, as he finished with 21 points, and if not for a blunder on the part of Anthony Davis, he could have had a game-winner to his name.
Russell won’t be moping around after getting benched and that is the right attitude to have. Everyone has bad games and what matters is how he bounces back from this. If he plays well against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, then this game would be forgotten about pretty quickly.
D’Angelo Russell Says He Is Living The Dream
Russell is certainly very happy to be back on the Lakers and he has proven to be a very good fit with this roster. Despite dealing with some injuries, he has averaged 17.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 6.1 APG while shooting 41.4% from beyond the arc. The Lakers needed a player like him at the point guard position and acquiring him certainly was the right call.
Russell recently stated that he is living the dream as he gets to play for the Lakers and he’ll be keen to stay for a very long time. He is a free agent in the summer though but if he plays well in the postseason, then the Lakers would have no issues in tying him down long-term.
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