The season ended on a low note for D’Angelo Russell. Not only did the Lakers got swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, but also individually the 27-year-old point guard struggled on the court.
After averaging 16.7 points per game and 14.7 points per game in the first two round of the playoffs, Russell averaged just 6.3 points per game (32.3% field goals, 13.3% three-pointers) in the conference finals.
Lakers head coach Darvin Hame eventually chose to remove the player from the starting lineup for Game 4. Russell admitted that he did not want to agree with the decision but accepted it to not be a distraction for his teammates.
“It was tough. It was tough to agree with it obviously,” he said. “But in a short period of time to not become a distraction to your teammates and to everybody else that’s preparing just like you to get the one goal done which is when I knew that was where you had to be professional, you can’t be a distraction at this point of the season and things like that. So that’s kind of how I went about it. Want to be professional and trying to dominate my minutes when there were minutes for me.”
Russell played just 15 minutes in Game 4 and scored 4 points.
