D'Angelo Russell Scores 21 In Lakers' Summer League Finale
LAS VEGAS (CBSLA.com) — D'Angelo Russell finally looked like a second-overall draft pick Friday, as the Lakers took on the Utah Jazz for their final game of the 2015 Summer League season.
The Lakers fell just short of their second summer league victory as they lost to the Jazz, 84-78, and concluded the Las Vegas league with a 1-4 record.
D'Angelo Russell had his best game as a Laker, scoring 21 points on 10-20 shooting. His previous scoring high was 12, as he seemed to find his stroke a bit more in the final game of the summer league for the Lakers.
Russell, who has been turning the ball over at an alarming rate, kept his turnovers to just three during Friday's contest, while also adding four rebounds and one assist.
In the four previous summer league games, Russell turned the ball over three, eight, seven and five times.
The game should definitely be encouraging for Russell and the Lakers' front office, as the highly touted second-overall draft pick hopes to be in the Lakers' starting lineup when the regular season begins.
Julius Randle added 11 points for the Lakers on 4-10 shooting, while also collecting five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Jazz were led by rookie Trey Lyles, who scored 20 points on 7-19 shooting. Lyles started at power forward for the Jazz, and like Russell, had his best game of the summer league as well. He had previously scored a high of 13 prior to today's game, and the rookie out of Kentucky also grabbed nine rebounds against the Lakers.
Bryce Cotton and Jared Cunningham both scored 15 points for the Jazz, while Los Angeles native Wesley Saunders added four points in 13 minutes for the Jazz.
Saunders attended Windward High School before playing college basketball at Harvard.
Tarik Black had a double-double in the Lakers' losing effort, as the big man shot 6-7 from the field in blocked two shots.
Jabari Brown scored 14 in his second game of the summer league after missing the first three games with an injury, while Jordan Clarkson shot 6-15 from the field and scored 12 points.
Clarkson had the play of the game however, as he threw down a monster slam dunk against Utah's Jack Cooley.
The next Lakers game does not come until October, and this was the final chance for Head Coach Byron Scott to get a look at his players hoping for a roster spot in NBA game-action.
The other Lakers rookies had below average games, as Anthony Brown shot just 1-6 from the field while scoring two points, and Larry Nance Jr. scored just two points in 15 minutes played. Nance did collect four rebounds but did commit three personal fouls as well.
As of now, the starting lineup for the Lakers heading into the regular season looks to be D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle and Roy Hibbert.