D’Angelo Russell shared messages of hope with fans in a private discord server after the Lakers blew a 20-point lead to the Nuggets and lost to a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater.
“We still gonna win. Don’t give up on us.”
Russell also eluded to him not being able to speak his mind about the officiating during the game, when a controversial call was made to overturn a foul on D’Lo from Michael Porter Jr.
“I can’t say what I wanna say because I’ll get fined and it will go viral. I’mma just say, told you I would make them b**ches.”
Russell reaffirmed that if he’s getting great looks, he will make them.
“Great looks, I’mma make them b**ches.”
confirmed Dlo posts in his discord pic.twitter.com/fgERC1XLXj
— Ethan Price (@Paradox_EP) April 23, 2024
Russell entered Game 2 with a string of disappointing performances against the Nuggets, averaging 7.6 points and 3.4 assists in their previous five games. In Game 2, Russell put up 23 points on good efficiency to prove that the Nuggets’ matchup isn’t something he can’t figure out. Unfortunately, the Lakers still couldn’t pull away with the win.
At this point, it’s hard to say what the Lakers need to put the Nuggets in the rear-view mirror. If they can’t convert a 20-point third-quarter lead against the Nuggets into a win, they might just be functionally flawed against opposition of this caliber.
Darvin Ham Admits He Can’t Stop Nikola Jokic
Before Game 1, Lakers coach Darvin Ham openly admitted that he doesn’t have the recipe to limit Nikola Jokic.
“He’s become extremely efficient, like when he’s manning their offense, he knows how to kill you in a variety of different ways,” Ham said. “Just gotta put constant pressure on him and that doesn’t seem to bother him either. Taller than everybody. Wingspan, skillset. It’s like s**t, I don’t know what to do. You just got to go out there and try to be as disciplined as possible, aggressive and consistent, and have a next-play mentality, man.”
This was abundantly clear during Game 2, as Jokic put up 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists in the win. Players seemed extremely disappointed with how the team was set up during the game, with Anthony Davis making that clear after the game,
“We have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the floor.”
Rui Hachimura had also discussed the Lakers’ complete inability to beat the Nuggets.
“They watch us a lot. We’ve played them so many times in the last year, they know what we exactly do. We’ve got to do well as a team defense, they don’t give us many options… I think we gotta play together more, I got to be more active, sharing the ball, and all that. I think that’s going to help us this year.”
With Game 2 back in LA, the Lakers will hope and pray that they can prevent falling to a 3-0 deficit. The team will appear to be confident, given they know what they need to do to get Denver uncomfortable, but they just need to find a way to withstand the Nuggets’ flawless late-game execution and win games.
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