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Last night against the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard D'Angelo Russell proved once again that team president Rob Pelinka may have been onto something when he traded for the 6'4" vet at this season's deadline.

In LA's 122-111 home win, he scored 26 points while shooting 9-of-13 from the floor (3-of-6 from deep) and 5-of-7 from the free throw line, dished out six assists, rejected two shots, swiped one steal and pulled down one board. LA also outscored the Suns by 13 points when he was on the floor.

Teammate Anthony Davis gave D-Lo a rave review for his efforts last night.

When asked what D'Angelo Russell adds to LA, Davis replied, "A lot. His scoring ability, his communication, his playmaking. He does a lot for us. Making big shots. He's getting the crowd involved like he did tonight. The time that he was out, obviously we missed him. A lot of that ball handling responsibility [was] on Dennis and Austin, now they're able to play off the ball and we can run, kind of manipulate different actions with [those] three on the floor, as all of them are great ball handlers."

This may be extrapolative, but it certainly seems like Davis is a fan of Russell's game, which could prove imperative in helping D-Lo earn a new deal with the Lakers this summer as an unrestricted free agent.

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