The Los Angeles Lakers fell, 101-88, to the Miami Heat on Tuesday. For the third time in seven games, Lakers head coach Byron Scott benched rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell for the entire fourth quarter.
Byron Scott really doesn’t want to play D’Angelo Russell in crunch time, for some reason
The Lakers’ first-round pick spent yet another fourth quarter glued to the bench without a good explanation for why.
Russell, whom Los Angeles selected No. 2 overall in June’s draft, checked out of the game with 4:52 left in the third quarter and his team trailing by three. He was not re-inserted into the game the rest of the night.
Russell was asked if he was told why he was benched after the game. He said Scott didn’t tell him.
“I don’t know,” Russell said, via ESPN Los Angeles. “I’ve got to figure out what I’m doing wrong so I can correct it.”
This is the second time in a week that Russell has been benched in the fourth quarter without being given an explanation. He was kept off the floor for the game's final 12 minutes on Nov. 4 against the Denver Nuggets despite having seven assists and just one turnover beforehand. Asked afterwards if he knew why, Russell responded that he had "no idea."
Only four Lakers are averaging less fourth quarter minutes than Russell. He's been replaced most often by Lou Williams, or with shooting guard Jordan Clarkson sliding over to point guard.
Scott’s postgame explanation on Tuesday didn’t provide much clarity, either.
Byron Scott said he didn’t really consider bringing D’Angelo Russell back in at the end of the game, Miami had too big of a lead.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) November 11, 2015 Russell played 21 minutes against the Heat and finished with four points, four rebounds and four assists on 2-of-6 shooting from the field. He did turn the ball over twice. On the season he’s averaging 24.1 minutes, 8.6 points on 40 percent shooting, 2.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds.
Just watching every possession before D'Angleo is benched. He was playing perfectly fine.
— Drew Garrison (@DrewGarrisonSBN) November 11, 2015 After Tuesday night’s loss, Russell said he needs to play better.
“Got to get better on each read and I guess that’s my problem,” Russell said. “I try to force it, trying to get the ball to guys.”
Russell’s decrease in minutes comes just days after Scott said that if his 19-year-old point guard didn’t start playing better, he’d lose playing time.
“He has to start getting it, just like the other young guys have to start getting it, and if they don’t, they won’t play as much,” Scott said Friday, via the Los Angeles Times. “Playing time in this league is a very precious thing and I don’t want our guys to take that for granted. Missing assignments on a continuous basis is not going to go unnoticed. You’ve got to start developing and doing a better job on that end of the floor.”
D'Angelo Russell DNP 4th Quarter - Eating Gatorade Towel pic.twitter.com/PwKBhCUG0t
— Silver Screen & Roll (@LakersSBN) November 11, 2015 Scott, whose Lakers are 1-6, singled out Russell’s defense in particular. Los Angeles is surrendering 108.4 points per 100 possessions this season, the second-worst mark in the league. That number climbs to 114.2 when Russell is on the court, via NBA.com.
“When you make a mistake over and over again, that wood has a way of talking to your butt a little bit too,” Scott added on Friday. “You get a couple of splinters here and there. Sometimes that has a great way of communicating how important it is to play on that other end of the floor.”
Russell is far from the only Laker struggling on defense. Brandon Bass has a defensive rating of 115.7. Clarkson's is 114.2. And, of course, there's Kobe Bryant, who comes in at 112.3.
D'Angelo played some pretty good defense in the 3rd https://t.co/4sUNi1MziB
— Drew Garrison (@DrewGarrisonSBN) November 11, 2015 Another good defensive possession in the 3rd from D'Angelo https://t.co/DRjqn3RGAa
— Drew Garrison (@DrewGarrisonSBN) November 11, 2015 Russell’s defense may need to improve, but other Lakers aren’t being benched for faring just as poorly on that end.
That Russell, a point guard, has the team's seventh-highest usage rate just shows how far Scott is going to keep the man who's supposed to be his team's prized rookie un-involved. Instead, the Lakers have become a lottery-bound team being coached by a man who quixotically believes a playoff spot is in this year's cards. That Scott recently said that the Lakers drafted Russell over Kristaps Porzingis because they thought Porzingis would need more time to develop only drives home this point.
Everyone seems to know that the Lakers are bad, except the Lakers themselves. Even their fans at Silver Screen and Roll have realistic expectations for this season.
Scott does not get to be Goldilocks with a team this talent starved. He does not get to wait until the situation is juuuust right to play Russell. Wins are going to come few and far between this season, which means there is no reason to not let the rookie get his reps. The only real victories this year are visible steps forward from the young players, and the sooner Scott realizes that, the better.
Whether this has solely been Scott’s decision or one he, general manager Mitch Kupchak and Bryant agreed upon together is something we don’t know. Still, this is a doomed strategy that won’t help the this year and will also damage Russell’s confidence for years to come.
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