Kobe Bryant elected to miss yet another home game on his farewell tour and this contest against the Brooklyn Nets marked the eighth time Bryant has missed a game at Staples Center since he announced his retirement in late November. Good thing Kobe took the night off because it was D’Angelo Russell’s time to shine and he did not disappoint.
Russell filled up the stat sheet for the Lakers in their battle with Brooklyn, a team that is joining Los Angeles at the bottom of the standings. While winning is always good, in this scenario a Lakers victory might hurt their chances at some ping pong balls in the summer.
Obviously D’Angelo Russell had no care for the Lakers future lottery standings and he took over the game, making plays and hitting big shots. For the night, Russell scored a career-high 39 points on 14-21 shooting including another career-high in three point makes with eight in the contest, attempting 12 shots from behind the arc. Russell also handed out six rebounds and dished out three assists.
The highlight of Russell’s night came late in the game, with the Lakers up three with 35 seconds to go, all eyes were on Russell as he pulled up from deep and splashed a three that would seal the game for the Lakers and end their eight game losing streak.
D’Angelo Russell as he says, has ice in his veins.
