Los Angeles Lakers: D’Angelo Russell Comes Up Big

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a D’Angelo Russell sighting! After a subpar 11-game collection of starts, he blew away his season averages of 39 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range. Russell finished Friday’s 102-91 loss to the Toronto Raptors with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting (3-for-7 from three).

The Los Angeles Lakers rookie finally gave pundits the performance that they’ve been starving to see.

The loss wasn’t the circumstance that the team would have liked to see Russell excel, but any progress is good progress. The best part about the night may have not just been scoring, but Russell matched his career-high in scoring with a career-high in minutes (34). Russell hasn’t seen much time in the team’s final quarters robbing him of so much valuable experience.

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Head coach Byron Scott finally gave him enough time to put together an all-around body of work.

Drake disapproves, by the way …

From the start of the game, Russell was very aggressive along with Jordan Clarkson. The Lakers backcourt showed their range from three, inside, as well as running the fast break:

Surprisingly, getting inside is the part of Russell’s game that he hasn’t shown during the year. Russell has only been to the line in six of the 11 games, getting no more than two free-throw attempts a game.  More aggression to get inside will definitely help other aspects of his game, including his uncanny passing ability and shooting.

What does this mean for Russell going forward? Well first things first is that he may find more time than the 24 minutes he’s averaged per game this season. Secondly, Russell has to make sure that he’s as comfortable from the outside as he was this game. Compared to earlier games where many of his shots fell short, Russell had good balance and arch on his shots:

Little intricacies as such will be critical to his improvement and consistency going forward. The Lakers are who they are at this point, even during these few games this season. The team may not turn their attention to complete development of its young pieces until Scott decides the time is absolutely right.

While the screams over Russell’s limited play have been loud, the process is no different from what Scott went through with Clarkson as a rookie. The biggest difference is that Russell has started from the beginning, an indication of some forward thinking by Scott.

As long as he can steadily improve, Russell’s spot in the rotation is sure to remain cemented. While the expectations haven’t matched his draft position, Russell has performed like a 19-year-old NBA rookie. It’ll take some time before he can put his imprint on games at will. For now, fans should enjoy one night of a performance close to what’s desired.

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I’m sure that Russell is feeding off of this one for confidence.