Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell found himself in a bench role for several weeks as he struggled offensively in December. Being a starter his whole career, Russell had to adjust to playing limited minutes off the bench and handled it professionally.
For a player of Russell’s caliber, it is easy for him to check out on the team and cause chemistry issues by coming off the bench. However, he didn’t pout and performed well, ultimately building himself back up to earn his starting spot back.
After a 39-point performance against the Utah Jazz on Saturday, it became clear that Russell deserved to be back in the starting lineup. He and Austin Reaves would reconnect as backcourt mates alongside Taurean Prince, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the starting five that began the season.
Russell credited this group by saying it forces him to play high-level basketball and it showed in Monday’s win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“With that group, I think it forces you to play high-level basketball. I feel like we got to this flow by just playing high-level basketball in the first half, carried over to the second half,” Russell said. “And ending the third quarter, carried over to a really good fourth quarter for us. Executed down the stretch. All that started from just everything before we even got to that point.”
The defensive end has been the calling card for the Lakers though in recent years and L.A. is trying to find its groove on that end once again. Russell believes communication is the biggest thing to help maximize their team’s defense.
“I think our main thing is communicating. A lot of our mishaps are on defense or for miscommunication and things like that. Just a bunch of ‘I thought we was’ as an excuse,” he said. “The more you limit those, I think the better we are with that group, with any group; our defensive lineup still has those mismatches and it’s kind of contagious. So for whatever group is out there, just find a way to be vocal as a unit and that can translate well for us.”
A team like the Lakers that always has championship aspirations, it was certainly a disappointing start to the season after what was deemed a great offseason.
However, with head coach Darvin Ham going back to the original starters, it seems that may be the answer moving forward.
D’Angelo Russell & Austin Reaves enjoy sharing court together
When Russell was acquired at last season’s trade deadline, it took no time for him and Reaves to build a great relationship with each other. Now back together as starters for the foreseeable future, Russell and Reaves shared that they love being on the court together as their chemistry has blossomed.
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