Julius Randle notched a triple-double as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the visiting Brooklyn Nets 125-118. Randle tallied 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in just 31 minutes in the latest match of the 2016-17 NBA season.
"He was everywhere," said Russel. "Assists, point, rebounds - whatever it took, he got it done," he said.
At the start of the game it was D'Angelo Russel who got hot for the young Lakers. Russel knocked down four 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game and finished with five at the end of the opening period. Russel also had a big game for the Los Angeles Lakers as he finished with a season-high 32 points on 7-13 from deep and added eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Half of Randle's 10 assists were to Russel. "My man D-Lo went crazy in the first quarter," said Randle. "So he made it easy on me. When our guys get hot like that, it's just 'find them, feed them the ball," the player said.
Although Randle and Russel were the stars of the show for the LA Lakers, it took a total team effort for them to get the win. Every player that Luke Walton inserted into the game scored at least four points and grabbed at least one rebound. Tarik Black provided a spark off the bench and tallied 12 points and nine rebounds in just 13 minutes of action. Timofey Mozgov delivered his highest scoring output as a Laker with his 20 points.
The Brooklyn Nets also had a complete team effort as everybody that got into the game scored at least two points. Brook Lopez led all scored for the Nets with his 30 points and added 10 rebounds. He also shot 4-11 from deep as he seems to be looking for the 3-point shot every time he gets a chance this season. Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 29 points and Trevor Booker recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Los Angeles Lakers are now 7-5 for the 2016-17 NBA season and are tied with the Portland Trailblazers and the Utah Jazz for fifth place in the western conference. They have been up and down so far this season but they have exceeded all expectations. They were supposed to be in rebuild mode but Walton has convinced everybody to play together. It's still 11 games into the season but their performance is making veteran swingman Nick Young believe that they will make the playoffs if they continue to play the way they are playing right now."
