D’Angelo Russell ruled out of the NBA today’ following Lakers opinion…
D'Angelo Russell ruled out of the NBA today' following Lakers opinion...
NBA: D’Angelo Russell leads the Lakers past the Thunder in a charge
LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-104 on Monday night in the NBA. D’Angelo Russell scored 26 points and made five 3-pointers, while Anthony Davis contributed 24 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lakers won their tenth game in a row behind 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists from LeBron James. The Lakers, who defeated the Thunder, who were leading the Western Conference, for the third time in a row, won the season series with 16 points from Austin Reaves, who also made four 3-pointers.
Russell remarked, “You can’t unwind because they’re so well-coached.” “That team has all the tools necessary to succeed and perform well at this level.
“That team has all the tools necessary to succeed and perform well at this level. You must be prepared to play with those men. Beating them is no accident.
James was on the verge of a triple-double in his first game back after recording his career’s 40,000th point in a defeat to Denver, but the Lakers’ commanding lead prevented him from playing the last six minutes. Since the Lakers made six 3-pointers in a row to increase their advantage to 25 points while Davis was out, he was able to sit out the whole fourth quarter.
My teammates find me when I’m hot,” Russell said. “It makes it easier when I can stretch the floor like that. That’s what shooting does. It’s a pleasure.”
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Russell passed to James before his third 3-pointer with 9:06 to play, but James whipped the ball right back to him for a shot that left Russell sprawled on his back from uncalled defensive contact, putting the Lakers up 103-79 and earning a standing ovation.
“I didn’t know I made the shot,” Russell said. “I just kind of threw it up there. Lucky shot.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points — ending his streak of eight consecutive 30-point games — for the Thunder, who lost for only the second time in nine games. Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren added 15 points apiece.
“Our start was good offensively, but our overall sharpness just wasn’t there,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Defensively, we turned them over a bunch of times, and that kept us in it. But certainly not our fastball tonight. … I just didn’t think we were as sharp offensively as we needed to be. A team like that that’s got size and physicality, that’s a requirement to hit shots against them, but we just didn’t do that enough.”
Oklahoma City hit a season-low 30.6% of its shots in the first half while playing on possibly weary legs during the third stop of a four-game road trip that included a draining win at Phoenix on Sunday.
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“Obviously, they’re coming off a tough back-to-back,” Reaves said. “But any time you can beat a team confidently going into the fourth of that caliber, it speaks to what you did offensively and defensively. … Anytime you beat a team like that that’s been playing really good basketball, it feels good and it gives you some momentum going forward.”
Both teams weren’t in top form in the first half. The Thunder jumped to a quick 12-point lead, but then fell into a 2-for-21 shooting slump that allowed the Lakers to take a double-digit lead despite committing 12 turnovers.
Oklahoma City big man Jaylin Williams missed his second straight game with a sprained left knee. Mike Muscala made his first appearance since rejoining the Thunder from Detroit, scoring five points in 11 minutes.
