A lot of the Los Angeles Lakers’ recent success can be attributed to the moves the team made at the deadline, adding D’Angelo Russell and others to give them some much-needed depth.
The emergence of Austin Reaves has also played a big role as he was inserted into the starting lineup alongside Russell in the backcourt and the team has taken off ever since.
Reaves and Russell complement each other very well as two players who can score in a variety of ways, also making plays for others with the ability to play both on and off the ball.
The two young guards have also built a strong relationship off the court in their short time together, potentially setting themselves up to be the Lakers’ starting backcourt long-term.
Right now though, the focus is on winning a championship and the Lakers will need contributions from both in order to do so.
Russell had a rough game in the Play-In Tournament with just two points on 1-of-9 shooting, although he bounced back strong in Game 1 against the Memphis Grizzlies with 19 points, four rebounds and seven assists on 7-of-17 shooting.
After the game, Reaves had high praise for Russell’s unselfishness, pointing out that he still had eight assists despite the rough shooting performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“DLo is a really, really good basketball player. I think what people were talking about for him after the Play-In Game was that he didn’t play well, but if you go back and look, he had eight assists. He’s so unselfish that that carries a long way for a group. When he comes off a pick-and-roll, swing, swing, or you kick it to him and he has a 3 but he throws the extra pass it goes a long way. So it’s not always about what you see on the statsheet. Obviously tonight he was big, what did he have, 19 points and seven assists. Like I said, he’s really good and it’s not always about what you see on here. It’s other stuff too. In the locker room, him instilling confidence in me and the rest of the guys as well.”
Reaves is right that Russell’s playmaking has been much-needed for the Lakers, allowing both LeBron James and Anthony Davis to play off the ball more to conserve their energy.
While the Lakers would love consistent play from Russell, he has mostly been really good since joining the team, making plays for himself and his teammates. Whenever he has a bad game, other guys like Reaves have been right there to step up which is what makes the Lakers so dangerous in the postseason.
Russell believes bounce-back was result of great preparation
Speaking about his Game 1 bounce-back performance against the Grizzlies, Russell attributed it to his preparation. He also added that he has not lost confidence, which will be key moving forward.
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