On Friday, D’Angelo Russell led the Los Angeles Lakers in scoring and may have also led to some scoops.
Head coach Darvin Ham said that Russell “spearheaded” the Lakers’ offensive assault against the New Orleans Pelicans. Russell played in his first game since the 2024 NBA trade deadline; he missed Thursday’s game against the Denver Nuggets because of a knee injury. In 40 minutes, Russell scored 30 points, the most of which came during an incredible second-quarter run in which he sank four straight three-pointers (as well as two free throws). Los Angeles won 139-122 after scoring 51 points during the quarter.
Following the win, the Lakers (28-26) trailed the Pelicans (30-22) by three games for the seventh seed.
As the game progressed, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was joined by another aggressive former Brooklyn Nets guard, Spencer Dinwiddie, who came out of the Crypto.com Arena tunnel. Dinwiddie was led into the Lakers’ locker room following the game.
Darvin Ham sidestepped a question from Dinwiddie by bringing up the smell of brisket coming from the team buffet (yes, really), and Russell was then asked what his running partner from the 2017–19 Nets, Russell.
The Lakers and Dallas Mavericks are competing for Dinwiddie, who was waived by the Toronto Raptors. On Thursday, Pelinka said the Lakers will target a “ball-handling guard” on the buyout market, noting the uncertainty about Gabe Vincent’s timetable to return from knee surgery. Dinwiddie, a Los Angeles native, has averaged 13.6 points and 5,3 assists on .415/.331/.794 shooting splits for his career. “He’s a big guard,” said Anthony Davis (20 points). “Shot-maker. Obviously, we’ve seen what he did with Brooklyn, what he did with Dallas, making big plays for them. He’s a well-established vet in this league.” Ironically, Dinwiddie’s recruiting visit came on a night when the Lakers operated like a fine-tuned machine.
Ironically, Dinwiddie visited the Lakers as a recruit on a night when they were like well-oiled machines. Russell’s ability to create plays drove the Lakers’ sometimes-erratic halfcourt offense right from the start. They shot 15-for-31 from 3-point range, finished with 32 assists against six turnovers, and had all five starters score over 20 points, an NBA record that hadn’t been reached since 1993 (last by the Lakers in 1984).
Anthony Davis finished with 20 points, Rui Hachimura bounced back from a no-show vs. Denver to pour in an energized 21 points, while Austin Reaves (27 points) shot 10-of-15 from the field.
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