Watch: D'Angelo Russell mauled by Lakers teammates for making 'lucky shot'
As the kids would say, D'Angelo Russell was "on a heater" Monday night.
The guard made three consecutive threes within a 66-second stretch in the fourth quarter, giving the Lakers a commanding 103-79 lead en route to a 116-104 win. The last of those shots was one Russell didn't want, considering he passed the rock to a relatively open LeBron James. However, James -- in an ultimate sign of trust -- passed the ball back to Russell, who was hounded by ace defender Jalen Williams.
Russell would miraculously make the shot despite falling on the floor from uncalled defensive contact, spurring a "No! No!" call from announcer Stu Lantz. The fans at Crypto.com Arena came unglued. As Thunder coach Mark Daigneault called a timeout to stop the bleeding, Russell's teammates hounded him for his theatrics and uncanny shot-making ability.
Russell took to X to admit there's "no better feeling" than being showered with the love of his teammates.
In the post-game presser, Russell referred to his heat check moment as "a lucky shot" that he "just kind of threw it up there." Russell admittedly didn't know the shot went in until he got back up on his feet.
His teammates, however, didn't think there was anything "lucky" about Russell's heroics.
"When D'Lo gets going like that, making three or four threes in a row, he breaks the game open," James said of Russell. "He did that again today. He has the uncanny ability of, like, when he sees the ball go through the hoop, he can make [a flurry] of threes, get the crowd into it, and that gets us hyped."
While Russell got off to a slow start in the 2023-24 campaign, he has been on a tear since the start of the new year. After averaging just 10.2 points in December, he registered back-to-back months of over 20 points per game in January and February. Just a few days into March, he's continuing his streak. Most notably, Russell's shooting a career-high 41.6% from three this season.
More must-reads: