Lakers News: Much-Improved D'Angelo Russell Believes "Sky Is The Limit" For LA

The Lakers starting point guard has high hopes for his team after their Game 1 win

Your Los Angeles Lakers escaped a hotly contested play-in game with a clutch 108-102 overtime win against the Minnesota Timberwolves last week, and even though LA came out on top, there were many question marks surrounding the team. 

One of the biggest concerns for the Purple and Gold prior to game one of their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies was the play of Lakers starting point guard D'Angelo Russell. Russell was, for lack of a better term, not good in that play-in game (he went just 1-of-9 from the floor for two points), and people were worried that would carry into the playoffs. 

In the first quarter of yesterday's 128-112 win in Memphis, it sure looked like it. D-Lo missed his first handful of shots, and fans were already disgusted with his play. Luckily, D'Angelo kept going at it and played well throughout the rest of the contest. 

The lefty PG spoke to Lakers.com beat reporter Mike Trudell and praised his team, saying they can do anything in these playoffs. 

"We need everybody to be aggressive and have the mentality that they can get us up out of here. 'Bron and AD carried the load for a long time, for us to just help them and support them and step up big," Russell told Trudell. "The sky's the limit for this group."

"Sky is the limit for this group." @Dloading chats post-game with @LakersReporter about the #Lakers team effort down the stretch in Game 1. pic.twitter.com/RMlAVZ9msf

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 16, 2023

The divide between D-Lo's performance from the play-in game to the first matchup with the Grizzlies was night and day. He did his thing in game one, scoring 19 points on 7/17 shooting, seven assists, four rebounds, and went 3/9 from beyond the arc. It was a great and much-needed bounce back game from Russell. 

The Lakers had their woes at times, but they picked up their defensive intensity and role players hit timely buckets to steal game one on the road. LA will need more of that and then some to make a deep playoff run, and LA fans can't wait to see this team back on the court again. 

The sky is most certainly the limit for the Purple and Gold if they continue to play like this. 

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