VIDEO: D’Angelo Russell Goes Off in Lakers’ Win Over Suns

D’Angelo Russell has been on a tear since the All-Star Break. With the keys to the offense in his hands even more since Lou Williams’ departure in a trade deadline move, Russell has started to put up phenomenal numbers for the Lakers.

Russell entered Thursday night’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns averaging 20.8 points and 5.5 assists per game since the All-Star break while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 34 percent from three.

The young Lakers point guard added to those totals again with one of his best performances of the season against his friend Devin Booker and the Suns.

Russell finished the contest with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting and hitting a nice six of his nine three-point attempts, including a dagger to secure the win. He also added three assists, four rebounds, and three steals to his final statline.

Russell’s stats were great and indicative of the type of game he had but D’Angelo’s efforts went beyond the box score. He played significantly better defense (despite a few bad transition possessions), helping to hold Suns’ guard Eric Bledsoe to only 13 points on 4-12 shooting.

More noticeably, Russell was incredibly vocal throughout the night. He held teammates accountable for mistakes and huddled up the team on multiple instances to give quick talks. He blurted out instructions to teammates and generally seemed to be in control of the whole team.

This is the kind of step that Russell needs to take moving forward. We know of his talents and whatever deficiencies he may have on the court are outweighed by his skill and potential. This is D’Angelo Russell’s team now and he has to lead it as such, even as a 20-year-old.

Russell made significant progress in doing so on Thursday and his teammates loved it:

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