Watch Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell face off
He may no longer be in the starting lineup, but D'Angelo Russell is finally becoming a little more assertive for the Lakers. Maybe that had something to do with him, the No. 2 pick, going up against the No. 1 selection in last June's draft.
Of course, Karl-Anthony Towns and Russell weren't guarding each other when the Lakers went to Minnesota to play the Timberwolves on Wednesday, eventually falling 123-122 in overtime. That wouldn't make sense. One is a guard, the other a big man. But both did impress with particularly gaudy stat lines.
Towns: 11-of-19 from the field, 26 points, 14 rebounds, one assist, three blocks.
Russell: 8-of-20 from the field, 3-of-9 from three, 23 points, one rebound, three assists.
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Maybe the bigger news than the actual stats here for Russell is that, after being pulled from the starting lineup a few games ago, he actually played the full fourth quarter and overtime period. That's a big step for both him and coach Byron Scott, who didn't put Kobe Bryant into the game after the third quarter.
