All eyes on Nets’ D’Angelo Russell as he faces his old team, Lakers
Nets guard D'Angelo Russell brings the ball up court against the Suns during a game at Barclays Center on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
LOS ANGELES — Anticipating the return of close friend D’Angelo Russell to play the Lakers on Friday night at Staples Center for the first time since they traded him to the Nets in June, Jordan Clarkson predicted an offensive explosion by his former running mate.
“Oh, he’s going to be fired up,” Clarkson told the Los Angeles Times. “He’ll try to go for 30? Forty? I don’t know how many shots he’s going to put up. He’s going to come in here, he’s going try to get a win, for sure. He’s definitely going to put them up. He’s going to try to win the game.”
Russell has a history of putting up big offensive numbers at key times. He returned from a benching last season with 40 points against the Cavaliers. But for his part, Russell tried to downplay his return to Staples Center by focusing on the importance of breaking the three-game losing streak the Nets (3-5) brought with them for the start of a difficult five-game road trip against Western Conference teams.
“Personally, I want to win,” Russell said when asked if he had any special incentive.
Through his first seven games with the Nets, Russell was averaging 21.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists and shooting 46.6 percent from the floor. All of those numbers are career highs as he begins his third NBA season since becoming the second overall pick of the 2015 draft.
But Russell’s 3.7 turnovers per game also is a career high, and his defense has been virtually non-existent, as he admitted following the Nets’ most recent loss to the Suns, who put together an 18-2 run that coincided with Russell’s return to the game in the fourth quarter.
“We let them do what they wanted,” Russell said of the Suns. “I think it starts with me putting pressure on the ball. Spencer Dinwiddie was great and made that happen.”
Russell’s reference was to backup point guard Dinwiddie, who leads the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio and has been a strong defender in the early going this season. Despite Russell’s prolific scoring ability, questions linger about whether the 21-year-old can develop a more complete game and grow into a team leader.
Lakers chief of basketball operations Magic Johnson famously criticized Russell’s lack of leadership at the time of the trade.
Asked for his reaction before Friday night’s game, Russell said: “It’s all said. I can’t really do nothing about that now. I just try to take the high route on that, and control what I can control in situations like that.”
At the same time, Russell admitted he was bothered by Johnson’s criticism. “I would say it ruffled a few feathers, but you control what you can control,” Russell said. “He’s in a position to say what he wants, so I just try to do what I can do at the end of the day.”
Asked recently to rate Russell’s leadership, Nets coach kenny Atkinson said: “I’d give him a B-plus to an A. He started out really strong, had a setback with the little injury [sprained knee] and is now trying to gain his rhythm back. But as far as picking up what we’re trying to do and trying to buy into our principles, he’s been outstanding.
“The leadership is going to come. I just think that’s going to take time. It’s my job to help him with it. With talent comes responsibility, so he does have responsibility to help lead this group.”
Still, it must be hard for Atkinson not to wonder how Russell’s ups and downs adjusting to the Nets’ motion offense and to their defensive concepts might be affecting the whole team. Russell sat out their uplifting win over the Cavaliers that got the Nets off to a promising 3-2 start. Since Russell’s return, the Nets were blown out twice before losing an eight-point fourth-quarter lead to the Suns.
“Somehow, we got out of rhythm in this past three-game stretch, and I really don’t have an answer for why that’s happened,” Atkinson said. “We’ve got to pull together on the road, and we will.”
That has to start with Russell pulling his weight at both ends of the court.
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
