Lakers News: D'Angelo Russell Striving To Move Past Miserable Showing Against Minnesota

As well he should.

Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard D'Angelo Russell had a less-than-stellar debut postseason performance for LA on Tuesday (his teams never qualified for the postseason during his first stint with Los Angeles). 

In LA's 108-102 overtime play-in game win over his old squad, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 6'4" vet scored just two points on 1-of-9 shooting for the Lakers, though he did log eight assists. He was frequently benched down the matchup's home stretch in favor of his backup, Dennis Schröder, who in turn had a much better night, scoring 21 clutch points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor. 

The victory enabled the 43-39 Lakers to lock up the Western Conference's seventh seed and the right to play against the Memphis Grizzlies.

But D-Lo, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn't reach a veteran's contract extension agreement with LA before the 2022-23 season ends, is striving to look ahead and not obsess over his lackluster efforts against Minnesota, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

“We needed to win, honestly. We needed to win,” Russell said. “For me to dwell on it and be upset or confidence low, I don’t think that’s the right approach. Definitely want to do anything and everything I can do to not be in that position in the future.”

LA will begin its best-of-seven playoff series against the higher-seeded Memphis Grizzlies on the road, at FedEx Forum, today at noon.

Are you following us on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube yet? Join the conversation as we discuss the latest Lakers news and rumors with fans like you!