The Los Angeles Lakers took on the New York Knicks on Sunday night, with the matchup seeing two former teammates face each other.
D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle were both on the Lakers from 2014 to 2016, but Russell stated after the game that playing against Randle wasn’t anything special for him.
“I’m a fan of his game,” Russell said. “No relationship. We played together. Went our separate ways after that. It’s just been competitive energy ever since then. I mean that’s how I am with everybody, I’m not really friends with anybody to be honest. On the court, it’s no love. You just want to battle, try to get the win, maybe shake hands after.”
Now that’s a response his former teammate Kobe Bryant would have been proud of! Russell isn’t interested in being friends with his opponents and just wants to win. He almost led the Lakers to a fourth straight win as well, finishing with 33 points and 8 assists. He had 31 after just three quarters but the Knicks put the clamps on him in the fourth to win 112-108.
Randle matched his former teammate with 33 points and he had 8 rebounds as well, as the Knicks improved to 40-30. As for the Lakers, the loss dropped them 33-35 and they suddenly find themselves as the 11th seed in the Western Conference. It is going to be a very interesting last few weeks of the season as teams desperately try to get into the playoffs.
D’Angelo Russell Is Shining On His Return To The Lakers
Russell’s first stint with the Lakers didn’t go to plan but it seems like his second one is going to be a success and trading for him is looking like a masterstroke. He was magnificent in their comeback win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday as he finished with 28 points to go with 9 assists and he could have led them to another win here if he had gotten some help from Anthony Davis.
Davis took responsibility for the defeat as he struggled with his shot (17 points on 8-18 shooting) and you’d expect him to play much better moving forward. These two at their best are more than capable of leading the Lakers to the playoffs, even if LeBron James is unable to return before the end of the regular season.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
