Los Angeles Lakers are getting back on track as they stamped an imposing 138-122 win against the Utah Jazz to collect consecutive wins in two straight nights. They came on top despite missing the services of LeBron James who was rested for the game. The Lakers have now won three in a row and they are closing in on the top-six seed. During the Jazz win, the team rode the hot hand of Rui Hachimura who had a career-high 36 points piece.
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Apart from Rui, Anthony Davis dipped in a team-high 37 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. Meanwhile, D’Angelo Russell also joined the bandwagon and dished a career-high 17 assists to guide the offense. The guard acted as a playmaking catalyst in the absence of James and continued to showcase his worth to the squad.
After a career-best assists performance, Russell alluded to his tweet from six months ago. In that tweet from July 2023, he had written, “If I[D’Angelo Russell] can’t score ima get an assist.” After dishing 17 assists, DLo referred to this tweet and quoted, “17 wow that was fun.”
This marked the sixth time that the lefty guard has punched home 10 or more assists during the season. Even though Russell did not have a perfect start to the season, the guard has shown his abilities since joining the starting lineup.
While things were looking grim for him when trade rumors were looming, it seems he has finally decided to unleash his full potential. Averaging 21.2 points and 7.0 assists in the last five games, Russell has a major role to play in the Lakers’ recent triumphs.
D’Angelo Russell seems to be driving the Lakers boat this year
This was also the second time when the guard dished 10+ assists. He had turned up with 14 assists in the 114:105 win against the Celtics earlier this month. On both occasions, the Lakers were without LeBron James so DLo had more ball-handling opportunities.
Apart from handing a ton of assists, the sharpshooter has also been formidable in terms of scoring. After struggling with injuries during December when his scoring output slipped to just 10.2 points a game, he has upped his production since January.
He notched 22.7 points per game during January on 48.8% while connecting on 3.9 three-pointers out of 8.5 attempts per game. In February, the lefty guard is putting up 20.3 points a game and is hitting 41% of his triples. Thanks to his exploits, the Lakers are fielding a much better offense and their defensive energy has been strong too. Things are surely looking better for him and it seems that sticking with Russell during the trade deadline was a preferable outcome for the Lakers.
He has missed two games this month and in the six games he has played, his squad has emerged victorious each time. With seven wins in the last eight games, the Lakers have elevated their profile. With 30 wins and 26 losses, they are just two games behind the Sacramento Kings while 3.5 games back from the Pelicans who are at the sixth seed. If the team continues to play like this, the sixth seed will soon be in striking distance.
