D'Angelo Russell breaks Lakers' 29 year-old 3-point franchise record
D'Angelo Russell has broken the LA Lakers' 29-year-old 3-point franchise record set by Nick Van Excel in the 1994-95 NBA season. Russell hit his 184th 3-pointer of the year in the first quarter of the Lakers home contest against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. He holds the record for the most 3-pointers in a season by a Lakers player.
The 28-year-old, currently in his second stint with the Lakers, has averaged 18.1 points and 6.4 assists this season on 46.9% shooting, including a career-high 42.4% from 3. He's single-handedly contributed to the Lakers' turnaround as an improved 3-point shooting team.
Russell has made 2.9 3s per contest in 64 games. He's their best shooter on the floor and has only improved as the season's progressed.
Russell has had an up-and-down year, but thanks to his improved offensive play, and especially his 3-point shooting shooting, he's cemented his spot as the third option on the Lakers.
D'Angelo Russell joined the team last season and was critical to their conference finals run as a seventh seed. The Lakers were in the lottery when D'Lo joined them after the deadline via a blockbuster three-team trade.
D'Angelo Russell adjusts role on Lakers, elevated team's offense
D'Angelo Russell is a true point guard. But that hasn't been the case since his move to LA. Russell has had to tweak his role, playing next to a high-usage player like LeBron James. He's adapted well to playing off the ball and as a catch-and-shoot threat, which many traditional point guards in the league struggle to do.
Russell has actively worked on this, especially this year, knowing the kind of opportunities he had offensively with LeBron on the floor. He reflected on it recently, saying:
“I realized I'm not gonna get any better as an individual basketball player, I'm kinda just gonna be better at what I do,” Russell said.
“In eight to 10 years in the league, I've learned where my shots are gonna come. When I watch countless amounts of film, I see what shots I don’t get, and I find [myself] wasting my time working on them in practice. So, I try to just harp on things that I can control and where I see my shots.”
This adjustment has allowed the Lakers to drastically improve on offense. They were among the bottom 10 of the offensive ratings for majority of the season until D'Angelo Russell's return to the starting lineup. Since February, the Lakers have the second-best offense behind Boston, with a 120.2 rating.
They are shooting 40.5% from 3, also the second-best mark behind the Celtics' 41.2%.