The Los Angeles Lakers returned from the All-Star break with a subpar performance against the Golden State Warriors. LeBron James was absent for L.A. as the Warriors cruised to a 128-110 victory with D’Angelo Russell — 18 points and nine assists — and Anthony Davis — 27 points and 15 rebounds — leading the way.
The only Laker with a positive plus-minus on the night was Spencer Dinwiddie, a plus-six in his 18 minutes of work.
It was a sluggish evening for the Lakers, as they lost all four quarters and gave up at least 30 points in each of them. Stephen Curry finished with 32 points with six 3-pointers and was a plus-25 on the night. In all, the Warriors led essentially the whole way against a Lakers team that bested them in double overtime less than one month ago.
James’ absence certainly had an effect on the Lakers, but Russell also believes it was simply the result of coming out of the All-Star break in a dull and sluggish manner, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I expected that, first game back. No excuse but obviously we weren’t as sharp as we would want to be. Weren’t as sharp as we were when we left before the break. It’s expected. We’ll be alright.”
The Lakers have to turn the page quickly because they face the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night in yet another back-to-back. Russell spoke about why that may be a good thing for the Lakers to get back on track:
“We play tomorrow. That’s the proper perspective right there, one game at a time. We lost tonight, try to get the next one. Simple as that. I think you can’t really get too low no matter what it is. Obviously we’re missing a bunch of guys and whatnot but one game at a time. Never too high, never too low.”
The Lakers had been playing some of their best basketball of the season prior to the All-Star break, and while the break can be a momentum killer for some teams, it shouldn’t take long for L.A. to get back to doing what they were doing in the games prior.
As long as they follow Russell’s lead of never getting too high or too low, they should be able to right the ship after an ugly first post-break performance.
D’Angelo Russell kept up with routine during break
It is easy for players to take their foot off the gas during the All-Star break, but Russell revealed that he stays ready during the time off so he does not have to waste time getting back into rhythm.
“I never tap out, personally,” he said. “I continue to train as if we got games every other day. So I put that work in as if it’s a gameday routine. Try to stay in it so I don’t have to get back into it.”
