Los Angeles Lakers guard made his return to Minnesota on Friday night after the Timberwolves traded him at the deadline in February.
It was an extremely important game for both teams given the current landscape of the Western Conference playoff race, but ultimately it was the Lakers that were able to come out on top with a 123-111 victory to move up to seventh in the standings.
Returning to a place you played is usually an emotional experience for players, especially considering Russell spent parts of four seasons in Minnesota. That’s the longest stint he’s had with any of the four teams he played with in his career.
The Timberwolves gave Russell a tribute video before the game to honor what he accomplished in Minnesota. Russell didn’t seem to get to emotional though as Lakers reporter Mike Trudell asked him about it after the game. Instead of showing love to the Timberwolves for the video, Russell simply said in a hilarious way that he is now a Lakers fan before walking off:
mood pic.twitter.com/9s7zRFvakp
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 1, 2023
Even though that was Russell’s response, it is clear that he still has love for his former teammates as he was seen talking with Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards before and after the game.
In his return, Russell had a solid overall game with 12 points, 10 assists and two steals in the Lakers’ victory. The real star of the night was Anthony Davis though as he shook off an ankle injury in the third quarter to finish with 38 points and 17 rebounds.
Russell had high praise for Davis’ performance after the game, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Y’all can’t say nothing about 3, man. He rolled his ankle and did all that in one of the biggest games of the year for us. That dude came out and showed toughness, led. Y’all can’t say nothing bad about that dude. He leads, those guys lead, we follow. Simple as that.”
It was a scary moment when Davis went down after stepping on teammate Wenyen Gabriel’s foot, so the fact that he was able to shake it off and stay in the game was great to see for Lakers fans.
Davis arguably had his most dominant performance of the season as 17 of his points came in the fourth quarter when the Lakers needed it most.
Russell also hit some big shots for L.A. as the team remains undefeated when all three of him, Davis and LeBron James are in the lineup.
Davis expects to be in the lineup against Rockets
It remains to be seen how Davis’ ankle will respond after tweaking it in the win over the Timberwolves, but he has already said he expects to be in the lineup on Sunday against the Houston Rockets.
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