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Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff WriterMar 19, 2024, 02:53 AM ET
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- Lakers and NBA press reporter for ESPN.
- Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.
LOS ANGELES– After Lakers point player D’Angelo Russell made history in Monday’s 136-105 win over the Atlanta Hawks by connecting Nick Van Exel’s franchise record for threes in a season with 183, coach Darvin Ham approved him any shooter’s dream recommendation.
“He has a green space,” Ham stated of Russell. “Not a thumbs-up. A green space.”
Russell went 6-for-10 from beyond the 3-point line versus the Hawks, ending up with 27 points and 10 helps as L.A. romped, shooting 57.8% as a group and 41.7% from beyond the arc.
“I indicate, I simply value him trusting me to that degree,” Russell stated of Ham. “Definitely attempt to seem like I made something like that and it wasn’t offered. To understand that that’s something I put the work in to do and put the work and continue to do, it appears typical for me, humbly.”
Russell is shooting a career-best 41.9% from 3 this season– 14th finest in the league.
“His expertise from the 3-point line, you understand, it’s actually, actually elite,” Ham included. “And we require every bit of it.”
Van Exel required 80 video games to set the Lakers’ 3-pointer mark in 1994-95, representing the longest-standing season franchise record in the NBA, according to ESPN Stats & & Information research study.
Russell, who passed Kobe Bryant (180 treys in 2005-06) on Monday, matched Van Exel’s turning point in his 64th video game.
“It’s actually cool, truthfully, simply to understand that, to get credit for it,” Russell stated. “It’s simply actually cool. I stated I do not wish to underdo it, downplay it, exaggerate it. I simply seem like it’s actually cool to simply belong of something like that. I believe I did something like that in Brooklyn. Simply to get credit for your video game and what you resolve and display it every night.”
Russell set the Nets’ franchise record for Threes in a season with 234 in 2018-19.
More vital than the record was the win, as the Lakers snapped a two-game skid. Anthony Davis returned from a corneal abrasion that triggered him to miss out on the majority of Saturday’s loss to the going to Golden State Warriors to install 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting, 15 rebounds, 6 helps and 2 takes. All 5 Lakers beginners scored in double digits, with LeBron James (25 points on 10-for-14 shooting, 10 helps), signing up with Russell and Davis with a double-double.
Davis stated he informed Russell that he might have taken a much better effort at one of his threes to pass Van Exel’s record on Monday.
