The Los Angeles Lakers are set to host the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, which will mark the return of D’Angelo Russell to Crypto.com Arena after he was traded a few weeks ago.
Even though it didn’t end well, there’s no denying that Russell’s second stint with the Lakers was much more successful than his first.
Regardless, there has to be some sour feelings on his part after being traded to the Nets for a second time. With that being the case, head coach JJ Redick is expecting Russell to try to take it to the Lakers on Friday.
“I expect him to come out and try to have a great game,” Redick said after Thursday’s practice. “He does not have a lack of competitiveness. He takes a lot of pride in who he is as a player. I’m expecting him to try to go at us tomorrow.”
Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht agrees with Redick although he is just happy to see his former teammate again after a few weeks.
“Like you said, he’s going to go against his old team. He’s going to be ready to play us and it’s going to be a fun one. So it’ll be fun to see DLo again,” Knecht said.
It remains to be seen if Russell will even play as he is considered day-to-day with a hamstring injury. He surely will do everything in his power to be on the court though as he has always played well at Crypto.com Arena and like Redick said, there is not doubt he will want to take it to his former team.
Russell has been limited to just four games since he joined the Nets due to some injuries but in that time he is averaging 12.8 points and 8.3 assists while shooting 41% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range. The 28-year-old is in a contract year so is looking to finish the season strong in Brooklyn before becoming a free agent once again this summer.
JJ Redick discusses Lakers’ second half turnaround against Heat
The Lakers are coming off a quality win against the Miami Heat as they erased a double digit deficit in the second half to earn the comeback victory. After the game, head coach JJ Redick credited the turnaround to better communication and effort.
If the Lakers do that for a full 48 minutes against Brooklyn on Friday then they should have no issues coming away with a second straight win.
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