Lakers News: D'Angelo Russell Continues to Struggle vs Denver But 'Excited' to Flip Narrative

Los Angeles needs Russell to step up majorly the rest of the way.

The Los Angeles Lakers entered into game one of their first round series against the Denver Nuggets ready to flip the script. But as they all walked off the court Saturday evening, it was more of the same for them.

After being swept in the Western Conference Finals a year ago, the Lakers went on to lose the three regular-season matchups between the two teams this year. They haven't fared well against the Nuggets in recent times and Saturday was another reminder of how far they may be behind them.

One of their biggest issues against the Nuggets has been the play of point guard D'Angelo Russell. Russell was awful in the Western Conference Finals a year ago but redeemed himself throughout the season. However, his struggles came back up in game one as he shot six of 20 from the field.

Despite this, he said after the game that he was still excited about trying to change the narrative since he was getting good looks.

“Great looks,” he said after. “I mean, I can’t be mad. I don’t recall the last time I got 20 shots. So for me to get 20 good looks — not 20 ‘good,’ probably five or six of them were questionable. I know what I’m capable of. So, honestly, I’m excited. I’m excited about that.”

While it was just one game, it's a similar feeling to what happened last postseason. If the Lakers are going to take down Denver, they will need Russell to play much better. He was one of the main cogs for this team all year long and they can't afford to have him go missing now.

The Lakers just may have a Denver problem but they'll get another chance to steal a game on the road Monday evening. Getting a win on the road early on could change the entire trajectory of the series, especially since they would finally beat Denver in a matchup. Los Angeles needs to show up in game two, otherwise, this series could be over before it ever really started.

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