Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton praised D'Angelo Russell after his big performance on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Russell achieved a career-high of 40 points in the game, on a 14-of-22 shooting from the field and six assists. The coach claims that the second overall pick of the 2015 NBA draft did so many positive things against the Cavaliers on Sunday. Cleveland made it past the L.A. team with a 125-120 win -- but the LakeShow resisted the 2016 NBA champions -- and lost after having an 11-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
''I think it started with him (Russell) knocking down shots,'' Walton told reporters post-game. ''When he gets going, you know, he's tough to handle. He did a great job of mixing up and trying to get into the paint and playmaking and offensively you know, talking, you know, purposely calling certain plays to get people involved, and coming off picks and making correct decisions. I think we only had six turnovers as a team tonight -- which's really good for us."
The experiment turned out well
Coach Luke Walton decided to start D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson together on Sunday. It didn't go bad for the team, as Russell finished the game with 40 points and Clarkson contributed to his team with 19 points.
Before the season started, many expected to see the Russell & Clarkson duo in the Lakers starting five. The coach declined to do so, and instead inserted Nick Young to play alongside Russell in the opening lineup.
The duo set to start more games together
L.A. Lakers coach Luke Walton has revealed that he'll continue start D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson in the upcoming games.
''Well, individually, they both made in my opinion (a) great go throughout the season,'' Walton said. ''But, for whatever reason you know, the two of them on the court together when we've tried hasn't statistically been very good for us. But, it was good to see that it worked tonight and we'll continue to try that, you know, lineup going forward, and see if we can, you know, make that chemistry between the two of them a normal thing.''
Full interview:
