For the second straight game, the Los Angeles Lakers came out flat and suffered a blowout loss to one of the top Western Conference teams. This time it was the Los Angeles Clippers who dominated the Lakers and once again point guard D’Angelo Russell was less than stellar.
Russell finished with only five points on 1-7 from the field. He did add six rebounds and five assists while only turning the ball over twice, but he had very little impact on the game overall and was outplayed by his Clipper counterparts.
Head coach Luke Walton has been Russell’s biggest supporter throughout the season, but Walton felt that Russell simply didn’t have a bounce in his step on Saturday via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Luke on D’Angelo (1/3) "I told him he’s been magnificent for us this whole month. Tonight I didn’t think he had that same bounce in his step
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 15, 2017
Walton also noted that the Lakers need Russell to be more aggressive via Winters:
Luke on D’Angelo (2/3) "…we need him to be more aggressive & be the player that we all know he is & the player he’s capable of being
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 15, 2017
Russell has had three straight bad games now after a six game stretch where he looked like he was finally turning the corner. Russell had done well balancing scoring and passing and also being aggressive going to the rim instead of just settling for jumpers. Now the team as a whole seems to be in a bit of a funk.
It has been pretty obvious that the Lakers offense runs better when Russell is at his best. When he’s aggressive it opens up opportunities for his teammates and his vision and passing allows him to create easy shots for them. There are always going to be ups and downs with young players, but Russell is going to need to turn it around soon if he plans on helping the Lakers get back on track.