The Lakers were reportedly concerned they could “lose” former Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell if they brought him off the bench after a disastrous Game 1 against the Nuggets. Well, they started him in Game 2 and got another ugly result.
Russell, who recently said he was “held back” in Minnesota, shot 4-of-11 and the Lakers were outscored by 25 points when he was on the floor in Game 1. In Game 2 Thursday night, Russell had 10 points in 33 minutes and posted a plus/minus of -16.
Russell was benched in the second half of Game 1 after the Nuggets built an 18-point lead. With Russell on the bench, the Lakers mounted a comeback and got within three points in the final moments before losing by six. They lost again in Game 2, 108-103 and now face an uphill climb with Game 3 returning to Los Angeles this weekend.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the Lakers are “concerned” they could “lose” the 27-year-old point guard if he views a move to the bench as a demotion after starting every other game this postseason.
What’s happening now with Russell is remarkably similar to what happened in last year’s playoffs when the Timberwolves benched him in the fourth quarter of Game 6 against Memphis in favor of Jordan McLaughlin.
Bruce Brown said the Nuggets’ goal was to attack D’Angelo Russell defensively on every possession.
“He’s not the best defender, so we wanted to make it tough on him”
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) May 17, 2023
With the game hanging in the balance Thursday night, Russell checked in with 8:37 left in the fourth quarter and he played fewer than five minutes before he was replaced by Dennis Schroder. Russell didn’t see the floor again until there were 24 seconds remaining.
Russell’s fourth quarter stats: 0 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, 0 steals, 0 blocks.
For the series, he’s averaging 9.0 points on 36.8% shooting including 12.5% from 3, and he’s -41 in 59 minutes. With Russell on the bench the Lakers are +30 in 37 minutes this series.
In 17 regular season games with the Lakers, Russell averaged 17.4 points per game while shooting 48.4% from the field.
