Nuggets give Lakers' D'Angelo Russell bulletin-board material with latest comments

“I felt we did a great job on D’Angelo Russell,” he said. “So great that he wasn’t even in the game much in the second half.”

While Malone’s assessment of Russell was rough, it wasn’t wrong. The Lakers guard struggled mightily in Game 1. He finished with eight points on 4-of-11 shooting. He also missed all three of his shots from beyond the arc and recorded a mere three assists.

Russell also wasn’t great defensively, which allowed Bruce Brown Jr. to score 16 points in 24 minutes. Afterward, Brown too fired a jab at Russell.

“He’s not the best defender, so we wanted to make it tough on him,” he said, per The Athletic's Tony Jones.

Between his ineffectiveness on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, some have wondered if perhaps L.A. would be better off benching Russell in this series.

That isn’t an option. According to ESPN NBA insider Dave McMenamin, “There is concern the team could ‘lose’ the 27-year-old point guard if he views the adjustment as a demotion after starting every other game this postseason.”

Where does that leave the Lakers, particularly given what a hot topic Russell’s future with the organization has been? It’s unclear.

One bad game shouldn't lead to an overreaction, especially given how crucial of a role Russell has played in the team’s resurgence after the NBA trade deadline.

That being said, the Nuggets are not the Golden State Warriors. They are not a small team. It might behoove Los Angeles to trot out a bigger lineup than the three-guard unit they attempted in Game 1.

Either way, the Nuggets made it clear on Tuesday night that they plan to go after Russell hard.