The Los Angeles Lakers won their sixth game of the season Wednesday night, walloping the Boston Celtics with a 112-point uppercut. It was Los Angeles’ third win since head coach Byron Scott decided to alter his starting lineup by replacing D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle with Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr.
Russell and Randle both shined off the bench in their first trips to Boston, combining for 31 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and only three turnovers. At times, both youngsters carried the Lakers, particularly a struggling Kobe Bryant, who finished with 15 points on 18 field-goal attempts.
When Scott demoted Randle and Russell, back on Dec. 7, it was viewed as a temporary experiment. Change was necessary, as Los Angeles’ starting unit of Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Bryant, Randle and Roy Hibbert was easily the least effective five-man unit in basketball, getting blasted with a net rating of -13.9 in 261 depressing minutes, per NBA.com.
The move has been a relative success, in that Los Angeles is slowly starting to isolate less and pass more. But it hasn’t resulted in wi ...
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Article written by Michael Pina
The Time Has Come for Lakers to Move D’Angelo Russell Back to Starting Lineup
December 30th, 2015 by Michael Pina Leave a reply »
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