On April 19, Beijing time, the Lakers are still training in Los Angeles, and they will fly to Denver a day later to prepare for the playoffs G1, knowing that G1 will start on April 21, then the Lakers only have 24 hours to adapt to the Denver Plateau.
Speaking to the media after practice, Russell said: "Just like against the Pelicans, we've been preparing for the team we're going to play against all year long, and I'm ready to play, and I'm very excited about that." I'm trying to make this the first race of the season...... My mentality is to be less concerned, play more freely, be a butterfly on the court and fly as much as I want.
Russell played 37 minutes in the play-offs against the Pelicans, 7-of-14, 5-of-11 three-pointers, 21 points, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 turnover, and two key three-pointers in the final quarter.
In the regular season this season, he averaged 32.7 minutes per game, scored 18 points, 3.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks, shooting 45.6% from the field, 41.5% from three-point range, and hit 226 three-pointers in Lakers history, tenth in the league this season.
However, the American media posted the data of Russell's West matchup against the Nuggets last year: Russell played an average of 24 minutes per game, scored 6.3 points, 2 rebounds and 3.5 assists, and shot 32.3% from the field, 13.3% from three-point range, and 75% from the free throw line.
This season's Lakers' lineup is much the same as last season, Vanderbilt and Reddish, who can help James relieve pressure on the front line, are currently on the injury list, and Wood, who can relieve pressure for thick eyebrows, has also been reimbursed for the season, and it is really difficult for this lineup to play the Nuggets.
Then Russell is even more important, this year is a little different from last year, last year was the Western Conference finals against the Nuggets, this year is the first round, and the physical/consumption is not so great.
Russell faced the Grizzlies in the first round last year: he averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game in six games, shooting 43.5% from the field and 37.2% from three-point range.
In the 6 games of the second round of the Warriors last year, Russell had 14.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, with a shooting rate of 45.6% and 31% three-pointers.
Text/Yan Xiaobai's basketball dream