WATCH: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and teammates crash D’Angelo Russell’s interview after win over Bucks

The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Milwaukee Bucks at their Crypto.com arena today. The pressure was on the Lakers with leader LeBron James out for this game. D’Angelo Russell stepped up and put up a season-high performance to win the game. This led to team leaders James and Anthony Davis to congratulate Russell during his post-game interview.

But the man of the night was D’Angelo Russell, who led all players with 44 points. More important was his 4th quarter domination, scoring 21 of the Lakers’ 27 points to hold on to the win. He also shot the go-ahead field goal with just 6 seconds to go in regulation. He also dished out 9 assists in the process to get production out of his teammates. Such was his effort that during the post-game on-court interview, James and Davis took turns to dap up and congratulate Russell’s efforts.

The Milwaukee Bucks trailed the Lakers until the end of the 3rd quarter. Then in the fourth, they went on a rally to take the lead with not more than a couple of minutes left in regulation. Russell scored 8 points in the final minute to rally the Lakers back into the lead. Thanks to a Spencer Dinwiddie block on Damian Lillard‘s last-second shot, the Lakers prevailed.

James was out for this game after aggravating his ankle injury in the last outing. The Bucks were on a charge with a 6-1 record since the All-Star break. This meant Davis, Russell, and the others were facing a herculean task tonight. With their playoff chances heavily depending on how their final 18 regular season games, the Lakers could not afford to lose such games.

D’Angelo Russell’s surge has brought the Los Angeles Lakers success

D’Angelo Russell has had a great run since his return to the starting lineup. He has averaged more than 20 points a game in helping the Lakers to a 16-10 run to climb back into the play in positions. More importantly, Russell’s scoring has helped take the pressure off James who is in his 21st season.

When he came off the bench, Russell was tasked to be the playmaker with James on the bench. Now as a starter, he feeds off the passes from LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and Anthony Davis. The spot-up shooter role has had a brilliant effect on the Lakers’ run.

D’Angelo Russell was one of the primary trade candidates before the trade deadline with the Lakers looking to improve their roster. But he has proved to them, that they did not need to make a trade after all.

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