After going scoreless in Game 3, all eyes were on D’Angelo Russell going into Game 4. The Los Angeles Lakers’ point guard has been instrumental to the success of the team this season and if they were going to avoid being swept by the Denver Nuggets for a second consecutive year, the Lakers needed a big game from Russell.
Thankfully, they got just that as Russell finished with 21 points, knocking down four 3-pointers in the 11-point Lakers win. As for what allowed Russell to lock in and step up in the biggest game of the season, the point guard simply relied on all of the work he has put in since last offseason to be ready for this moment.
“Trying to be as humble as I can, I just think I’ve been through it all before and I kind of prepared myself mentally before I go through it again,” Russell said. “I prepared for this all summer, all season. I tried to prepare myself for these times now when everyone is watching, everyone has something to say. I just try to stay to myself and to my own opinions and emotions.”
Russell came under a lot of scrutiny following his play in the Western Conference Finals against this same Nuggets team last year and he put in the work to make sure it didn’t happen again. He has been hit or miss in these playoffs so far, but he has shown he can bounce back and deliver in the postseason for the Lakers.
Something else he pointed to as helping him was the fact that having LeBron James and Anthony Davis on his team allows him to ease himself in the game.
“This isn’t a place that you’re gonna come out and dominate the game when you got LeBron and AD right next to you,” Russell added. “So for me, to come out in Game 3 and not score and then just come out and be ultra-aggressive and try to do all that extra stuff, that’s not really me. And I know that’s what people were expecting me to do, so it made it easier for me to prepare my mind for that approach.
“Let the game come to me, be aggressive and it was really as simple as that. We looked up and everybody was aggressive, everybody was pitching in. AR was huge, Bron and AD continue, Taurean Prince was huge, Spence, Gabe, all those guys pitched in, Jaxson. It just allowed us to have an imprint on the game in our small little role that we have. It was contagious, everybody wanted to continue to fight and compete.”
The Lakers got a whole team effort on this night and it allowed them to stave off elimination and force this series back to Denver for Game 5. But Russell will need a repeat performance if he wants to help the Lakers bring this series back to Los Angeles for one more game.
Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell focused on driving to basket in Game 4
One of the talking points from D’Angelo Russell’s awful Game 3 was that he was settling for 3-pointers and not attacking the basket. It was something that head coach Darvin Ham mentioned and in watching the film session, Russell realized it as well and made the necessary adjustments.
“I watched it from Game 3, a lot of my 3s, the small sample size that I had, the shots that I had, were all tough ones,” Russell said. “I just felt like my mind was made up when I got the ball and I saw that in film last game. Tonight, I see Caldwell-Pope running me off like I’m Steph Curry so I tried to make plays and attack in that small pocket.”
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