D’Angelo Russell had a resurgent common season, however his postseason has not been excellent. The Los Angeles Lakers guard missed 13 of his remaining 16 shot makes an attempt throughout a Recreation 1 defeat to the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers dropped Recreation 2 in Denver, earlier than returning to Los Angeles for Recreation 3 of the first-round collection, which didn’t go the Lakers’ method both.
Within the recreation’s remaining minutes, Russell was noticed sitting sideways on the bench late within the recreation as his Lakers teammates huddled to strategize a comeback. Los Angeles misplaced 112-105 and is on the point of elimination.
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Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell sits sideways on the bench within the remaining moments of the Lakers’ 112-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Recreation 3 of the primary spherical of the NBA playoffs at Crypto.com Enviornment April 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Instances by way of Getty Photographs)
It stays unclear if Russell meant to choose out of the crew huddle. He had one other irritating recreation, lacking all seven of his pictures from the sector and ending the evening with zero factors.
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Followers contained in the Lakers’ area started to voice their displeasure with Russell’s efficiency as the sport progressed, and he was finally benched.
Though the 28-year-old guard struggled on the offensive finish, he grabbed three rebounds and blocked a shot.
D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers warms up earlier than a recreation towards the Denver Nuggets through the first spherical of the 2024 NBA Playoffs April 25, 2024, at Crypto.Com Enviornment in Los Angeles. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE by way of Getty Photographs)
Russell’s current struggles introduced again recollections of his offensive points towards the Nuggets within the 2023 Western Convention finals. However the Lakers nonetheless seem to consider within the All-Star level guard.
“D-Lo is a big purpose why we’re right here within the first place,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham mentioned earlier this week after the Lakers’ Recreation 1 loss. “I am not going to bail out on my participant simply because he is lacking the pictures that he usually makes. Similar pictures had been moving into towards New Orleans [in the play-in tournament] and different video games that he is performed in to assist us get up to now. So, it simply wasn’t his evening.”
D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers handles the ball throughout Recreation 3 of the primary spherical of the NBA Playoffs towards the Denver Nuggets April 25, 2024, at Crypto.Com Enviornment in Los Angeles. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE by way of Getty Photographs)
The Lakers have dropped seven consecutive playoff video games to the Nuggets.
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The Lakers host two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets for Recreation 4 Saturday.
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