Nets at Lakers
D'Angelo Russell is an All-Star guard who continues to get better as the Brooklyn Nets arrive in Los Angeles to face his former club, the Lakers, on Friday. Russell is coming off a career-best 44-point performance in a contest in which the Nets overcame a 25-point, fourth-quarter deficit to post a 123-121 road win over the Sacramento Kings.
Russell was the No. 2 overall pick by the Lakers in the 2015 NBA Draft but the organization wasn't patient in terms of his development and traded him away after two seasons. Now he is the star of a rising Brooklyn team and is averaging 20.7 points and 6.9 assists while fitting in much better than he did with Los Angeles. "He responds. He never comes back at you. He says, 'OK, coach,' and he gets better," Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters of how easy Russell is to coach. "That's a pleasure when you have your All-Star that you can coach and accepts coaching and doesn't cop an attitude and accepts it. It's huge. That's leadership." The Lakers have leadership issues as the first season with LeBron James on the roster has been a disaster, and the club has lost four straight games and nine of its past 10.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), Spectrum SportsNet Los Angeles
ABOUT THE NETS (37-36): The 23-year-old Russell made six 3-pointers against Sacramento to set a franchise record with 202 - passing Allen Crabbe's 201 from last season - and scored 27 points in the final stanza as Brooklyn outscored the Kings 45-18. Atkinson was about to clear the bench but Russell went on his tear and the Nets improved to 1-3 on a seven-game road trip. "I wasn't expecting an amazing comeback," Atkinson told reporters. "I just have to be honest. And then slowly but surely we started cutting the lead. I think we got it to 12, 'wait a second, this is possible'. Then I think we cut it 10 and then it's like, 'OK, it's game on now' and ended up closing it out."
ABOUT THE LAKERS (31-40): James sat out Tuesday's 115-101 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks due to groin soreness but Los Angeles coach Luke Walton reiterated that there are no plans to shut him down for the season with the team well out of the playoff mix. Regardless, there figures to come a time in upcoming weeks when James and/or team management decide it isn't worth risking further injury to the 34-year-old, who has played in just 51 games this season. Backup guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope erupted for a season-best 35 points and matched a career best of eight 3-pointers in the loss to the Bucks and may see increased minutes against the Nets.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Russell recorded 22 points and 13 assists as the Nets posted a 115-110 home win over the Lakers on Dec. 18.
2. Brooklyn F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored the winning basket against Sacramento and had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
3. Los Angeles F Kyle Kuzma was 4-of-17 shooting against the Bucks and is 20-of-56 over the past four games.