There have been multiple games where the Lakers had to manage without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And who do you expect to step up? Of course, the answers vary from D’Angelo Russell to Austin Reaves. What happens when D’Lo goes through a rough night? Well, the hooper might’ve hinted at what he does to avoid the same. We’ve all heard players talking about the importance of sleep. At the end of the day, a proper recovery is what prepares the body for the essential 48 minutes of action, when millions of eyes are on you.

Now, some players are celebrities off the court. Or, in general, have a busy schedule while keeping their workouts at the topmost priority. Still, there may be times when the balance in their lives is disturbed. And that’s where D’Lo has found himself in the past. Talking about reaching his flow state, the hooper said, “We play so many games that, I think I was telling him that like I used to be routine, sleep, do this, do that, and I found myself getting to the flow state easier by thinking less, doing not, doing this.”

“Not thinking about what I needed to and the more, the further I got away from what I was trying to achieve throughout the day, the more by the time it came, I just let my preparation get me there versus like I could be sleepy as hell, ‘AR I ain’t got it tonight bro, you got to get 40. Bron not playing, AD (not playing), bro, come on. Can you go get 30??” Russell said on the Backyard Podcast.

Austin Reaves is indeed one of the favorite players of Lakers fans. But the 26-year-old has never scored more than 35 points in a game. Moreover, Reaves only has three 30-point games so far in his career. However, when Bron, AD, and D’Lo are off the stat sheet, it’s up to Hillbilly Kobe to take care of things. In fact, when he dropped his career-high 35 points, his memorable night was accompanied by good performances from D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Davis. Not to mention, AR dropped the 35-bomb after coming off the bench!

Regardless, Russell himself is a major scoring threat once he’s feeling it. He registered five 30-point games last year with a season-high of 44 points while knocking down 9-12 triples. If anything, you’d be surprised to see D’Lo’s stats in LeBron’s absence on the floor.

D’Angelo Russell can take matters into his own hands if the need be

While D-Lo struggled to keep up in the playoffs, his performance during the regular season did not disappoint. Especially when King James was not on the floor. In the 11 games, D’Angelo Russell played without the King, he posted 5 double-doubles including a 39-point bomb on the Jazz. Averaging 21.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 10.8 assists without the NBA’s leading scoring, D’Lo’s presence makes up for the concerning absence pretty well. Now you might wonder, what happened to Russell in the postseason?

To put it into perspective, D’Lo played 76 games last season. He shot 45.6% from the field and 41.5% from deep. Sounds like an extremely efficient scorer, right? Well, come playoff time and he may have just lost his spark. He and Reaves were the primary shooters, yet Russell could only drain 31% of his 3s. Yes, when he’s having a night, it is nearly impossible to stop him from beyond the arc.

But then again, when D’Lo struggles, he really struggles badly. Quite frankly, the Lakers are in need of a reliable shooter. However, if he can prove to be a more consistent shooter in the postseason, the Purple and Gold will be looking at a deep playoff run next year.

It will be interesting to see whether Russell can maintain his numbers and consistency as the regular season nears its opening night. What are your thoughts? Do you think he could’ve helped the squad avoid an early first-round? Let us know in the comments.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.