TORONTO — The play happened just like D’Angelo Russell said it would.
A little over an hour before the Lakers’ 131-125 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday, Russell was at his locker inside the visitor’s locker room at Scotiabank Arena having a conversation with third-year wing Max Christie about a possible scenario that could occur in the game.
The gist of what Russell told Christie, which was observed by a couple of reporters, including the Southern California News Group: Be ready to make a backdoor cut when they’re on the floor together. If he did, Russell would find Christie and assist him with a layup.
Russell was prophesying.
Just three seconds after Christie subbed in for LeBron James as part of the typical substitution pattern midway through the first quarter, Russell faked a dribble-handoff to Austin Reaves before driving toward Christie in the left corner.
Before Russell could even take a second dribble, Christie cut parallel to the baseline behind Chris Boucher, with Russell hitting Christie in stride with a bounce pass for an and-1 layup.
Just as Russell predicted.
“I knew they were switching me and AR’s time,” Russell told the Southern California News Group as he walked through the lower bowl of Scotiabank Arena postgame. “They were trial and error with our time slots. So he was partnered and playing more time with Bron and I was gonna play more with [Anthony Davis]. I knew I was gonna be out there with Max, and me and Max already have that chemistry.
“So I’m like, ‘Soon as you get in, no matter what, we’re going to have an opportunity.’ And I recognized the opportunity was to side out, saw him in the corner. I like Max. He’s coachable. He’s good. And I knew I could help him. That’s what I want to do.”
The pregame brief back-and-forth that led to a successful play encapsulated Russell’s buy-in under coach JJ Redick despite his role being diminished offensively in a significant way – at least up until Friday.
“He’s been one of the most vocal leaders on our team,” Redick said of Russell. “And that goes back to before training camp on the days he was in the gym. It’s one of the challenges I gave him the first day he came to the gym, and he was using his voice. He was energetic and we talked about it afterwards. And I said, ‘That’s gotta be your standard. That’s gotta be who you are every day, regardless if shots are going in or not, or if you get subbed out at the end of a game.’”
After going through early shooting struggles, Russell had his best game of the season from a production standpoint against the Raptors, scoring a season-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting (3 of 6 on 3-pointers) with six assists and three rebounds in 33 minutes.
He finished with a game-high individual plus/minus of plus-14.
“He’s going to have a lot of good games where he plays well,” Redick said. “His spirit has not diminished with any sort of whatever you want to call it, shooting struggles, to start the season. He’s been fantastic. For all our guys, it’s a great example. I wasn’t aware of that [conversation with Christie], but it’s something that we’ve talked about with a number of our older players.
“It’s ‘you gotta be a leader with these young guys and help pick them up.’ Give them some confidence and it’s great to hear D-Lo did that.”
Russell, who’s in his 10th NBA season, averaged 18 points (45.6% shooting, 41.5% on 3-pointers) and 6.3 assists last season. He set the Lakers’ record for most 3s made in a regular season (226) last year.
Before the season started, Redick spoke about wanting to put Russell in a position to have a “career year.”
However, with the Lakers using Davis as an offensive hub and providing Reaves with more on-ball opportunities, Redick and Russell understood that a career year didn’t necessarily mean his counting stats would increase.
His usage rate – the percentage of team plays used by a player when they are on the floor – has decreased from 22.2% last season, which was third on the Lakers, to 16.8% (sixth). Russell’s usage as a pick-and-roll ball handler has dropped significantly, from a team-high 6.1 possessions last season to 3.5 this season. He’s playing off the ball and spotting up more frequently.
Russell entered Friday averaging just 10.8 points (36.7% shooting, 25% on 3s) and 5.8 assists, taking just 9.8 shots per game – well below his career-low of 12 shots per game as a rookie. His averages bumped up to 12.2 points (40.3% shooting, 29.4% on 3s) and 5.8 assists on 10.3 shots after Friday.
Redick and Russell envisioned that the latter would impact winning in ways that may not show in a box score. Leadership. Being more engaged defensively consistently.
So far, Russell has delivered.
“He’s bought into what we’re trying to do,” Redick said. “He recognizes that his pick-and-roll usage will be down. And what he’s told me and what I think he has certainly lived out in reality is that he just wants to win. He wants to be on the winning team. He’s been bought in. We’ve had no issue sort of with anything with him. He’s gonna get it going. We’re gonna figure out ways to hopefully maximize all our guys. It’s very early. I’m not worried about D-Lo.”
The trust Russell and Redick built since the latter was hired in late June has made it easier for Russell to adjust. Redick said Russell was the player he talked to the most over the summer.
“I just want to be as pure as I can as far as developing the relationship,” Russell told the SCNG. “And any time I thought about him, any time I had an idea, I just reached out. He hit me right back. If it was a play, if it was anything like that, he made it easy for me. Obviously he trusts my ability. We played against each other. So to get on the court and collaborate with that … the skies the limit, man. I’ve never had a coach like that – that kind of believed in me.”
Redick made it a point to get Russell more involved offensively Friday.
Before Friday, Russell was usually the first guard to be subbed out in the first and third quarters so he and James could lead lineups at the end of the first, start of the second and start of fourth quarters while Reaves and Davis were paired for the longer stretches in the first and third.
But Redick kept Russell in the game for longer stretches in the first and third quarters alongside Davis against the Raptors, pairing Reaves and James.
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Redick said part of his reasoning for adjusting the team’s substitution pattern Friday was so Russell could have the ball in his hands more as a creator alongside Davis.
“That’s sick, cuz I don’t ask for that,” Russell told the SCNG. “And me, I’ve been in a position my whole career to where … I never had a play drawn up for me. I just played. So for him to put me in a position, that’s all I ask. And for him to recognize that I’m not being able to have an imprint on the game, and it’s not helping our team in ways, for him to recognize that, I appreciate that more than anything.
“Because I try to get [expletive] out of the mud. And for a coach to make it easier for me has never been a thing.”