Friday night featured a return to Los Angeles for D’Angelo Russell, who was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith a few weeks ago. The now second-time Net got to square off with Austin Reaves, who he became great friends with during their time together.
By trading Russell away, it opened the door for Reaves to be the Lakers’ starting point guard and has shown steady growth in this new role. In his last 10 games, the 26-year-old is averaging 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists on 44.7% from the field and 40.