LeBron James was out with a sore ankle for the Los Angeles Lakers’ Friday night game against the Milwaukee Bucks. In his absence, the team got a superstar performance from guard D’Angelo Russell in the 123–122 win, which had the future Hall of Famer fired up.
Russell led all scorers with 44 points, shooting an impressive 17 of 25 from the field and 9 of 12 from three-point range in the win. He added nine assists and six rebounds in the effort, and scored eight points in the final 73 seconds of the game.
Down by one with just over five seconds remaining in the game, Russell hit a floater to give the Lakers the lead.
D’angelo Russell: Return of The Floater.
— Lakers Legacy (@LakersLegacyPod) March 9, 2024
Most underrated aspect of DLO’s Master Class vs the Bucks tonight?
He didn’t strictly settle for 3’s down the stretch.
He leveraged his own gravity & cut the Bucks up in Screen & Roll No Man’s Land-
Reviving his Long Lost Floater. FTW. pic.twitter.com/yiKoETadUk
On the Bucks’ ensuing possession, Spencer Dinwiddie blocked a Damian Lillard jumper to secure the win.
Spencer Dinwiddie. 🔒
— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2024
CLUTCH. 🚫 https://t.co/4yS0sN5v1a pic.twitter.com/Wbo4VXs3ud
After the game, James took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate Russell’s huge outing, posting, “YEAAAAHHHH 9LO!!!” and tagging his 28-year-old teammate.
YEAAAAHHHH 9LO!!! @Dloading 😤😤😤😤😤😤😤
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 9, 2024
The win was an important one for Los Angeles (35–30), keeping them a half-game up on the Golden State Warriors as the nine-seed in the Western Conference. It also scores them a win over one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams, the third-place Bucks (41–23).
