D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers sat out for six games because of an injury right after joining the team in February.
But he returned to the Lakers on March 10 and his first two games back have been stellar.
His first game had him scoring 28 points and 9 assists.
On Sunday night, he went wild again and produced 33 points and 8 assists in a tough, close loss to the New York Knicks.
His work was all over the Internet during the game, with the official NBA Twitter account saying “D’ANGELO RUSSELL CAN’T MISS.”
D'ANGELO RUSSELL CAN'T MISS.
He's 12-14 on ESPN 🤯 pic.twitter.com/bfh5Agu57p
— NBA (@NBA) March 13, 2023
He eventually went 13-of-19 from the field for a strong 68.4% field goal percentage and 6-of-11 from the three-point line.
Former NFL star Richard Sherman was watching the game in awe of Russell, tweeting, “D’Angelo Russell is HOOPING!!!!!”
D’Angelo Russell is HOOPING!!!!! @Lakers
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) March 13, 2023
NBA 2K producer Chris Manning said that Russell was “absolutely cookin”, which is a sentiment that was seen again and again throughout social media on Sunday night.
DLO absolutely cookin.
— Chris Manning (@LD2K) March 13, 2023
Others felt that Russell’s work since coming back from his injury will lead the Lakers to the playoffs.
LakeShowYo could hardly contain their excitement.
D’Angelo Russell leading the Lakers to the playoffs pic.twitter.com/oNIe5rn9Hn
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 13, 2023
But in the end, Russell was not able to lead his team to a win.
Following the game, he opened up about the defeat.
D'Angelo Russell:
"That one hurt. That one hurt for us… Just didn't go our way, I guess. I don't really want to pinpoint anything because I didn't really see it, but that was a tough one."
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) March 13, 2023
Russell’s recent work is a painful reminder to the Lakers that there may be some young, talented players on the team but unless all of them are playing incredibly well night after night, it might not be enough.
Fans may be very happy with what Russell is doing but it still may not get them to the postseason.
NEXT: Skip Bayless Says 1 Player 'Disappeared' In Lakers Loss To Knicks
