Russell's 44 lift LeBron-less Lakers
The Lakers have shown that LeBron James' presence on the court isn't the be-all and end-all when it comes to them earning wins.
Friday night's 123-122 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena was the latest example, with the Lakers improving to 5-4 on the season without James in the lineup.
After a relatively quiet first quarter compared to the rest of his night, D'Angelo Russell had arguably his best performance of the season: a seasonhigh 44 points on 17-for25 shooting (a career-high tying nine 3-pointers), including 21 of the Lakers' 27 fourth-quarter points and the go-ahead basket with 5.9 seconds left.
Spencer Dinwiddie blocked Damian Lillard's step-back jumper right before the buzzer to preserve a stirring victory for the Lakers (35-30), who bounced back from a discouraging loss to Sacramento to win for the 11th time in their past 15 games as they fight to gain any ground in the Western Conference playoff race.
The Lakers and Bucks went back and forth for most of Friday, with neither team opening a double-digit lead at any point in the game, with the Lakers taking a 96-90 lead into the fourth and a 110109 lead into the final four
LOS ANGELES >>
The Lakers' D'Angelo Russell is pressured by the Bucks' Brook Lopez during Friday night's game.
minutes.
The teams kept exchanging leads, with Giannis Antetokounmpo (34 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists) making plays for the Bucks to put them in front 120-115 with 1:30 left.
Russell, who also had nine assists and six rebounds, made a 3-pointer to trim Milwaukee's lead to 120-118 with just over a minute remaining.
Dinwiddie was called for a foul against Antetokounmpo on his drive to the basket within less than a minute left, but Lakers coach Darvin Ham successfully challenged the play — with Antetokounmpo later banking in a floater to put the Bucks ahead 122-118.
Russell kept leading the Lakers, making an and-one floater to pull them within one (122-121) with 39 seconds
left.
Anthony Davis (22 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots) and Rui Hachimura (15 points, five rebounds) forced Lillard (28 points, 12 assists) to miss a layup with 24 seconds left.
On the Lakers' ensuing possession, Russell drove against Lillard for the leaning 13-foot floater to put the Lakers ahead by one. Dinwiddie, who made his first start in place of James, then delivered his gameclinching block of Lillard on the Bucks' final possession.
Russell again raised his offensive output when forced to play without James or Davis, shooting confidently while also distributing the ball effectively on offense. He hit four 3-pointers while staking
THE SCORE
LAKERS 123, BUCKS 122
Up next: Timberwolves at Lakers, Sunday, 6:30 p.m., SPSN
BOX SCORE
Milwaukee Min
G.Anttkmpo 38:41 14-23 5-7 2-14 12 2 34 Crowder 21:13 1-5 2-2 1-3 0 2 4 Lopez 31:35 4-6 0-0 0-3 1 2 11 Beasley 34:08 5-12 0-0 1-4 2 3 14 Lillard 38:27 10-23 4-4 0-5 12 2 28 Connghton 30:31 6-7 1-2 1-6 1 1 17 Portis 25:43 6-13 2-2 1-8 0 2 14 Beverley 16:28 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Gallinari 3:12 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 240:00 46-93 14-17 6-43 28 17 122
Percentages: Goals:
FG .495, FT .824;
16-41, .390 (Connaughton 4-5, Beasley 4-9, Lillard 4-12, Lopez 3-3, G.Antetokounmpo 1-3, Gallinari 0-1, Beverley 0-2, Crowder 0-2, Portis 0-4);
10;
2; 2 (G.Antetokounmpo, Lopez); 6 (G.Antetokounmpo 4, Beasley, Lillard); 3 (Beasley, Crowder, G.Antetokounmpo);
None.
Team Rebounds: Blocked Shots:
Turnovers:
Fouls:
Lakers
Dinwiddie 33:49 1-3 2-2 0-2 3 3 5 Hachimura 38:02 5-16 1-2 0-5 2 1 12 Davis 41:00 10-21 2-2 1-13 5 3 22 Reaves 36:38 7-12 2-4 0-5 7 1 18 Russell 38:12 17-25 1-1 2-6 10 5 44 Hayes 17:19 2-2 4-6 0-1 0 3 10 Prince 16:19 3-7 0-0 1-6 1 0 8 Reddish 15:24 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 0 6 Christie 3:15 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 240:00 47-90 13-19 4-38 28 16 123
Percentages: Goals:
Team Turnovers:
FT Reb A PF Pts
FG .522, FT .684;
16-34, .471 (Russell 9-12, Prince 2-5, Reaves 2-5, Dinwiddie 1-2, Reddish 1-3, Hachimura 1-6, Davis 0-1);
8; None;
7 (Davis 3, Dinwiddie 2, Reddish, Russell); 5 (Reaves 2, Russell 2, Hayes); 2 (Dinwiddie, Reaves); None.
Team Rebounds: Team Turnovers: Blocked Shots: Turnovers:
Steals: Technical Fouls:
Milwaukee Lakers
A:
Min
30 33 27 32 — 122 27 40 29 27 — 123
18,997 (18,997).
FG FT Reb A PF Pts
Steals:
FG
3-Point
Technical
3-Point
the Lakers to a halftime lead, and they stayed in front throughout the second half until Antetokounmpo and Lillard took over.
Austin Reaves added 18 points for the Lakers.