The Los Angeles Lakers put together a complete team effort against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. Without LeBron James or Anthony Davis in the lineup, six Lakers finished in double figures as L.A. completed a massive upset over the team with the best record in the NBA. They were led by Austin Reaves’ 32 points, D’Angelo Russell’s 14 assists and elite defense from Jarred Vanderbilt.
Russell was the true floor general for L.A. on Thursday. His 14 assists marks a season high and one shy of his career high. He was a plus-16 on the night, only one point behind Vanderbilt for the game lead. And while he didn’t shoot efficiently at 5-for-20, he found ways to be effective and lead the Lakers to a win.
But every player that saw the floor on Thursday was impactful for the Lakers. They collectively made up for the loss of their two superstars and played incredible basketball from wire to wire. Russell responded to the team effort by calling the Lakers dangerous, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Huge. Vando got it going from the jump and it just became contagious throughout our group. like you said, LeBron and AD weren’t playing so we knew guys had to step up. I just thought it was an all-around team win, team effort. I could go down the list and name everybody, everybody pitched in.”
Russell, in true leadership fashion, praised his teammates for playing their best ball and allowing him to rack up 14 assists in the process:
“Guys were making shots so I just tried to get guys the ball. Find the hot hand, AR had it going so just tried to continue to utilize that and it takes the pressure off everybody else if we continue to just feed that. Just keeping everybody involved, I thought everybody was dangerous tonight. Everybody, from Max Christie, to Jaxson Hayes, C-Wood got 10 shot attempts, he had the looks. Everybody was aggressive. It was a joy to watch.”
The Lakers are now hoping to continue that elite level of play from the role players while implementing James and Davis back into the mix. If they can do that, it could lead to a significant turnaround in L.A.’s disappointing season thus far.
Russell knows that the Lakers can be dangerous more often, and Thursday night was proof of what L.A. is when everyone is contributing.
D’Angelo Russell a name of interest for Nets
While all of this is going on on the court, Russell is still heavily the subject of trade rumors off the court. The most recent rumors tie him to his old stomping grounds in the Brooklyn Nets, who have penciled Russell in as a name of interest.
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