CLEVELAND – D’Angelo Russell couldn’t seem to get much of anything going offensively.
Playing on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers in his final game with the Brooklyn Nets before heading to Charlotte to take part in his first NBA All-Star game, the former Ohio State guard opened Wednesday’s game by making 1-of-11 shots with six turnovers. He wasn't even on the court for the Nets' final possession of regulation.
But with the game heading to overtime, Russell began to heat up. He scored seven points in the five-minute period, including a pair of go-ahead free throws after drawing a foul with 16 seconds remaining. Collin Sexton tied it up with a layup, though, and sent the game to double overtime, and then a miraculous 3-pointer from Brooklyn's DeMarre Carroll sent it to triple overtime.
Finally, Russell turned it on.
First came the jumper from the left elbow, which rattled in. The next time down the court, he drained an off-balance floater as he fell to the ground. Russell followed that up with a 3-pointer, then he drilled a leaning shot from the top of the key that deflated the Quicken Loans Arena crowd, gave the Nets a six-point and forced Cleveland to call a timeout. That didn't slow him down, though. On the first possession out of the timeout, he hit a jumper after a pick freed him up.
Russell made another 3-pointer before the final buzzer sounded, scoring 14 of Brooklyn's 18 points in triple overtime to propel the Nets to a 148-139 victory.
“He was really struggling,” Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “That's the sign of an All-Star. When you can struggle the whole game and come back like that, hit some tough shots and a big three on Stauskas, obviously that's huge. Real credit to his mental fortitude and resilience. Heck of a job by him.”
Russell had a team-high 36 points, marking the ninth game in a row that he has led the Nets in scoring, and he had the most points in a single game during that stretch on Wednesday.
He added seven rebounds and eight assists, coming one away from Caris LeVert's team-leading nine assists. Russell has led the team in assists in 11 of the past 13 games.
Even with the 14-point triple-overtime outburst, Russell still hit just 13-of-30 shots from the field and went 5-of-15 from beyond the arc. But at the end of the game, he wanted the ball. When Atkinson was asked whether he called plays for Russell or intentionally put the game in his hands in the final five minutes, he chuckled.
“No, he got the ball in his own hands,” Atkinson said. “Because I called one play, and it was for Joe, and he kind of waved me off – which that happens – and he subsequently hit the shot. No complaints here. I think he saw a mismatch he had on the court, and he exploited it.”
"A 6-5 guard from Ohio State, number one, D'Angelo Russell" pic.twitter.com/qQYh583xdu
— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) February 14, 2019
Russell treated Ohio State video coordinator Kyle Davis to quite the performance.
Davis had never been to an NBA game before, but he headed up from Columbus to Cleveland to see Russell in action.
“That's my guy,” Russell told Eleven Warriors. “We stay in contact. I remember recently I asked for all my games at Ohio State, all my scrimmages, and he came through. That guy used to drive me to class sometimes. Much respect. We stay in touch.”
When Russell was a Buckeye for the 2014-15 season, Davis was a manager.
Davis worked as an undergraduate manager from 2010 to 2014, then as a graduate manager in 2015 and 2016. After earning his Master's Degree in sports management, Thad Matta hired him as video coordinator, and Chris Holtmann retained him when he was replaced Matta in 2017.
Believe it or not I attended my first ever NBA game tonight thanks to @Dloading and wow did he put on a show to close it out! Incredible growth, absolutely deserving to be an All-Star!
— Kyle Davis (@The_Kyle_Davis) February 14, 2019
Russell wanted to see video from all his Ohio State games, so Davis sent it to him.
“I like to see that,” Russell said. “We had a closed scrimmage in West Virginia, and it was kind of a test. They were a pressure, full-court team, and I got to see where I was at as a freshman before the season started. I dominated the scrimmage, and I love looking back at that to see how far I've came.”
Four years after his career as a Buckeye ended, Russell will spend the weekend in Charlotte for the NBA All-Star game.
He'll be the first former Ohio State player to play in the All-Star game since Michael Redd in 2004. The 22-year-old guard is averaging 20.3 points, 6.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.
