Justin Ford/Getty Images

D'Angelo Russell Benched for Lakers vs. 76ers; Cam Reddish Promoted to Starting 5

Julia Stumbaugh

Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell will come off the bench on Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Cam Reddish will start in his place.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick said the change was made in part to improve the defensive presence of the starting lineup, per Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet.

Russell played just six minutes in the second half of the Lakers' Wednesday night loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Redick told reporters before Friday night's game that his visible frustration during the loss, when he slammed his chair to the court just after Russell missed a shot, was due to his overall frustration with the Lakers' 1-3 road trip rather than specific frustration with the player.

Russell finished out the Grizzlies loss with 12 points and three assists, and was benched entirely in the fourth quarter.

After the game, Redick told reporters he had been speaking with Russell for the past few weeks about "level of compete" and "attention to detail."

"At times he's been really good with that stuff and other times it's just reverting back to certain habits," Redick said. "It wasn't like a punishment, just felt like for us to have a chance to win this game that was the route we wanted to take."

Since he was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Lakers in February 2023, Russell has started 202 of the 244 games he has played for Los Angeles. He was averaging 12.0 points and 5.8 assists in 30 minutes per game through eight starts during the Lakers' 4-4 start to the season.

After starting Redick's first season as head coach with three straight wins, the Lakers have lost four of their last five games. Redick could be hoping some adjustments to the lineup will help spark the Lakers to turn the trend around tonight against the struggling Sixers, who enter the game with a 1-6 record while missing Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.

   

Read 253 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)