EL SEGUNDO — D’Angelo Russell is aware of the attention he’s receiving ahead of the Lakers’ first-round playoff matchup against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
The type of attention usually reserved for a team’s main stars – such as LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the Lakers.
Or Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray for the Nuggets.
But because of the way things went the last time the Lakers and Nuggets met in the playoffs, Russell’s performance in the best-of-seven series that starts on Saturday night in Denver will be under a microscope.
“I’d rather show you,” Russell told the Southern California News Group about his mental and emotional state entering the playoffs series earlier this week.
The Nuggets swept the Lakers 4-0 in last spring’s Western Conference finals en route to winning the NBA title.
Russell averaged 6.3 points on 32.3% shooting (13.3% from 3-point range) and 3.5 assists in 23.5 minutes in the series, losing his starting role in Game 4. He didn’t defend well, and that allowed Murray to get into a rhythm.
He returned to the Lakers on a two-year, $37 million contract (player option for next season) as a free agent last summer, bouncing back from the disappointing playoff series with a strong 2023-24 regular season.
Russell averaged 18 points on 45.6% shooting (a career-high 41.5% from 3-point range) and 6.3 assists in 32.7 minutes this season.
If there’s a player who could receive personal redemption for how last season ended, it would be Russell.
“There’s no extra preparation for me,” Russell said after Thursday’s practice at the team’s training facility. “Been preparing all year for whoever we would see in the postseason. Obviously, y’all [want to] make it a Denver-D-Lo thing, but I’m ready to compete.”
Coach Darvin Ham backed Russell, who ended the season strong.
Russell averaged 20.8 points (45% shooting, 43% from behind the arc), 6.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and a steal in his final 41 regular-season games as a starter.
He had 21 points (7-for-14 shooting) and six assists in Tuesday’s play-in tournament victory over the New Orleans Pelicans to help the Lakers clinch the No. 7 seed, including a clutch 3-pointer with less than a minute left to thwart the Pelicans’ comeback attempt.
“D-Lo is in an incredible space,” Ham said. “He’s kicking ass for us and we expect him to do the same.”
Outside of Russell, the history between the Lakers and Nuggets is obvious.
The Lakers beat the Nuggets, 4-1, in the 2020 Western Conference finals en route to winning that season’s title. The Nuggets got their revenge last year.
But the Nuggets have had the Lakers’ number as of late, winning the last eight matchups including last season’s playoff series and Denver’s 3-0 regular-season sweep of the Lakers this season.
But the Lakers don’t want to focus too much focus on the past.
“It shouldn’t be personal at all,” James said. “I think you allow yourself to get away from the game plan when you make it too personal. We have a game plan. You go out there and execute it and you live with the results.
“I’ve been in the postseason way too long in my career to know that you don’t get too high off of Game 1 or get too high over whoever the matchup is. You gotta just stay even-keeled. There’s gonna be a lot of swings throughout the course of the game, throughout the course of a series. And it’s how long you can just keep your mind even-keeled and keep the main thing the main thing.”
No. 7 LAKERS VS. No. 2 DENVER NUGGETS
Series schedule, all times PT
Game 1: Saturday, at Denver, 5:30 p.m. (ABC/Ch. 7)
Game 2: Monday, at Denver, 7 p.m. (TNT)
Game 3: Thursday, April 25, at Crypto.com Arena, 7 p.m. (TNT)
Game 4: Saturday, April 27, at Crypto.com Arena, 5:30 p.m. (ABC/Ch. 7)
Game 5 (if nec.): Monday, April 29, at Denver
Game 6 (if nec.): Thursday, May 2, at Crypto.com Arena
Game 7 (if nec.): Saturday, May 4, at Denver (TNT)
