Russell has 28 points and nine assists after missing six games with an ankle injury, and the bench adds 61 points as the Lakers win for the seventh time in their past nine games, 122-112.
LOS ANGELES — The rattle of nerves throughout Friday night’s back-and-forth game revealed just how much the Lakers have needed a little something extra this season.D’Angelo Russell made an impressive comeback from a six-game layoff with a sprained right ankle, making five 3-point shots on his way to a team-best 28 points and nine assists and turning a team that has already been improved since the trade deadline into one that was inspired.
Strikingly, the Lakers were able to win with just eight points and nine rebounds from Anthony Davis, who had been a one-man offensive wrecking crew since LeBron James was injured last month. But shooting 13 for 30 from behind the arc and 56.3% overall helped the Lakers overcome that, especially with a drastic 61-12 bench point advantage spurred by Dennis Schröder , Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura who had a way of turning the tide when the Raptors threatened.
Reaves had one of the best sequences of the fourth, leading a bench charge with an and-one bank shot, a pull-up jumper from midrange, and chasing down Gary Trent Jr. to force a turnover. Jarred Vanderbilt made a key hustle play moments later, grabbing a steal from going out of bounds, which found its way to Russell for a critical 3-pointer.
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