D’Angelo Russell has heard his name brought up a lot during the 2023-24 season as the Los Angeles Lakers are in desperate need to make a trade to right the ship.
Russell is one of the few sizable contracts the Lakers have on their salary cap sheet and thus he makes for an easy piece to include in most deals. After a brief move to the bench, head coach Darvin Ham inserted Russell back into the starting lineup and it’s paid dividends as the guard has looked more like himself offensively.
Hosting the Dallas Mavericks on primetime television, Russell was a force shooting the basketball. The former No. 2 overall pick was a thorn in the Mavericks’ side all evening and he’s a large reason why the Lakers picked up the impressive win.
Russell led Los Angeles in scoring with 29 points on an efficient 11-of-20 shooting, including 5-of-7 from the 3-point line. Russell was able to take advantage of Dallas’ porous defense and hit several momentum-swinging 3-pointers to keep L.A. well in front.
Anthony Davis has been a force on both ends all season and he had another dominant performance against the undersized Mavericks front court. Davis was much more assertive from the start offensively, going right at Dereck Lively II in the paint for buckets.
Any time Dallas sent help his way, Davis moved the basketball to unlock an open shot on the floor or kick off a series of passes that led to a good look. Davis narrowly missed on his third-career triple-double as he recorded 28 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Davis and the rest of the starters were pulled in the middle of the fourth quarter with the game out of hand.
LeBron James still had a quality night of his own though with 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, showing off with a bunch of ridiculous passes as the Lakers were starting to pull away in the second half.
Jarred Vanderbilt has looked more like himself as of late after spending the first part of the regular season rehabbing from a heel injury. Vanderbilt’s energy and hustle were catalysts for the Lakers’ third-quarter rally that essentially sealed the victory.
The forward’s defense on both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving helped slow down the Mavericks, while he even got loose on some cuts to earn free throws. Vanderbilt ended up with seven points and nine rebounds off the bench.
What’s next for Lakers
The Lakers will continue their home stand on Friday against the Brooklyn Nets and Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers. They will then take on the L.A. Clippers as the road team next Tuesday.
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