Going into Game 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, guard D’Angelo Russell had not enjoyed an efficient playoff game in terms of shooting — ever.
In 14 playoff games to that point, he had never shot as high as 45% from the field in a single contest, and some fans were doubting if he had what it took to come through in the postseason under pressure.
Buy Lakers TicketsHe struggled in the first half of Game 4, but he started to come along in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, with L.A. struggling offensively, he gave it a big boost, hitting three straight 3-pointers to turn a 97-90 deficit into a 99-97 lead.
It was a significant factor in the team’s 117-111 overtime win, and LeBron James gave Russell credit afterward (at 1:46).
"I want everybody to just play free… Let me worry about the X's & O's" @KingJames speaks with @ChrisBHaynes after Lakers Game 4 win pic.twitter.com/tfwU5yYtQY
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 25, 2023
“Without D’Lo, in that fourth quarter when the game was kind of stalling out and we couldn’t get a good shot, we couldn’t get a good look, D’Lo hit back-to-back threes, and it gave us an opportunity to even put ourselves in position to go to overtime. That was huge.”
Head coach Darvin Ham felt the same exact way, and he let it be known in the postgame presser as well.
Darvin Ham with a shoutout to @Dloading: "We were flailing at best offensively and he was able to catch fire… He put us on his back offensively and put us back in position to have a chance to close the gap… If DLo doesn’t play the way he played, we don’t win this game." pic.twitter.com/qThdeYUyTE
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 25, 2023
Russell finished with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting overall and 3-of-8 from 3-point range. Perhaps this is the game that will lift the proverbial lid for him moving forward.
