NEW YORK >> When D’Angelo Russell went down with a pair of leg injuries late in January, it was tough to know exactly where he stood. A strong month had given way to struggles, and he didn’t play in the fourth quarter of consecutive losses.
In his three games back on the court, however, Russell has recaptured what made him so successful earlier in January, prompting Lakers coach Luke Walton to leave his 20-year-old point guard on the court for at least 31 minutes in each game.
“He’s been earning more minutes with his play, honestly,” Walton said. “It wasn’t intentional, just a credit to the way he’s getting after it.”
For most of the season, Russell has averaged around 26 minutes. With a practice day Sunday before the Lakers play the New York Knicks on Monday, Russell has shown frequent flashes of the player the team thought they drafted in 2015.
In Friday’s 113-107 loss to the Celtics, Russell scored nine first-quarter points en route to 20 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. In his previous two games he had notched double-digit assists, something that had eluded him to that point in his young career.
“I feel like I’ve been playing at a high level,” Russell said. “I feel like I’m going in the right direction as far as making plays for my teammates and trying to find my role for the team.”
What’s working?
Walton pointed to the game-day routine Russell developed at the instruction of assistant coach Jesse Mermuys. They agreed to try it for one month, and if Russell saw results, he would be expected to stick to the routine.
“And he’s seen results,” Mermuys said.
Since Jan. 1, Russell has averaged 15.1 points, 5.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 14 games.
“He’s growing up a little bit, maturing a little bit,” Walton said. “We all know he’s got talent, it’s about being able to use that talent and play this position at a high level. He’s showing good signs of that.”
Russell, 20, has built strong relationships with veteran point guards Jose Calderon and Marcelo Huertas, as well as forward Luol Deng. On Friday, Hall of Famer and new Lakers adviser Magic Johnson tweeted that he and Russell had a good conversation prior to the Celtics game and that he “(looks) forward to working with him.”
“He’s one of those kids that’s always trying to learn and develop,” Huertas said, “and he’s shown so much improvement from last season to this season. If he keeps playing like this within a few years he’s going to be one hell of a player.”
If one were to quibble with Russell’s play of late, they might point to his season-high seven turnovers Thursday in Washington.
Walton said he tried not to get too excited about Russell’s 11 assists in that game, or the 10 he recorded two nights earlier in a victory over Denver.
“There’s turnovers you live with and he had a lot (against the Wizards) that weren’t in that category,” Walton said. “Just passes to (Timofey) Mozgov’s feet or whatever, where he was trying to make the right play but the execution of the pass wasn’t up to his standard as a player.
“It’s a nit-picking thing from the coach’s side of it but he’s been great. He’ll continue to get better with it.”
On the whole, Walton has been encouraged by Russell’s resurgence.
“People forget that it’s his second year in this league,” Walton said. “That’s a lot of responsibility. He continues to get better. … He’s trying to adjust and become the player that we think he can be. A playmaker an aggressive point guard. he’s doing a nice job with it.”
As long as that’s the case, it’s safe to assume Walton will keep him on the floor.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
