DENVER — As much as the story of the Los Angeles Lakers ‘ season has been centered on the team looking to make up for its flameout in the Western Conference finals a year ago to chase a championship, there’s also been a personal redemption arc for point guard D’Angelo Russell .
However Saturday’s 114-103 Game 1 loss to the Denver Nuggets , where Russell missed 13 of his final 16 shot attempts and scored 13 points, brought to mind some of his past struggles.
“D-Lo is a huge reason why we’re here in the first place,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said afterward. “I’m not going to bail out on my player just because he’s missing the shots that he normally makes. So, same shots were going in against New Orleans [in the play-in tournament] and other games that he’s played in to help us get to this point. So, it just wasn’t his night.”
After seeing his role reduced throughout the four-game sweep by the Nuggets last year and losing his starting job before the closeout game, Russell re-signed with Los Angeles in the offseason. He survived the trade deadline without being dealt, and his play from early January through the end of the regular season was a true bright spot for a Lakers team that came into the first round having won 12 out of 15 games to secure the No. 7 seed.