Pacific Notes: Russell, Davis, Kings, Monk, Suns

The Lakers picked up their 11th win in their last 16 games on Friday against the Bucks despite not having LeBron James in the lineup. Guard D’Angelo Russell was a major factor in the win, scoring a season-high 44 points.

“That’s D-Lo man, just play-making, constantly thinking the game,” head coach Darvin Ham said, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. “He kept his word when I told him to take over the game. I told him in the first half, stay aggressive. I need you to be aggressive all night. And he did that.”

Russell is averaging 18.1 points and 6.2 assists per game this season while knocking down a career-best 42.4% of his 6.7 three-point attempts per contest.

“On the floor, I’ve always felt like I was capable of doing things, [and] getting hot makes it a little more exciting,” Russell said. “Off the floor, obviously you all know what I’ve been through. Public humiliation has done nothing but mold me into the killer that you all see today. I never lack confidence. I never fear confrontation. I want all the smoke. … I just feel confident in what I bring to the basketball game, so whatever room I walk in, I’m confident.”

The Lakers re-signed Russell last offseason and he holds an $18.7MM player option for next season. While the Lakers reportedly explored trading Russell at the deadline, reports suggested the guard was more valuable to them than other teams. Given that he’s averaging 21.6 points after the deadline, it’ll be interesting to monitor how other teams value him in the offseason.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

• Lakers star center Anthony Davis said he “couldn’t really move” his left shoulder after the win against Milwaukee, according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews (Twitter link). Ham told reporters that Davis will be evaluated by the medical staff and an update will be provided later Saturday. The big man is averaging 24.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks this season while having appeared in 61 of L.A.’s 65 games thus far.
• The Kings defeated the Lakers in dominant fashion on Wednesday before barely beating a Victor Wembanyama-less Spurs team on Thursday. It’s this sort of unevenness that has defined Sacramento’s season, according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick. Even though the difference between this and last year’s team that snapped a 16-year postseason drought is just a .004 difference in win percentage, the Kings are fighting to avoid the play-in after finishing at No. 3 last year. Home losses to Charlotte and Portland are among a large selection of missed opportunities for a Kings team that has shown it can hang with the best, Amick writes.
• Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels recently provided the Kings with bulletin-board material after Sacramento defeated Minnesota in overtime on March 1, Amick writes in the same story. McDaniels said following the loss that he felt confident his team could defeat the Kings four times in a row if the two were to square off. Malik Monk responded to McDaniels’ claims. “[The Timberwolves] ain’t won a playoff series [since 2004], so I don’t think they can talk,” Monk said. “They’re in the same boat as us, basically. They ain’t won a playoff series, and we ain’t won a playoff series [since 2004], so you can’t really talk. That’s just him being a competitor, though.“
• The Suns are entering a potentially season-defining stretch starting on Saturday when they face the Celtics. As Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin writes, the 37-26 Suns take on the Celtics twice in their next three games, along with the Cavaliers in Cleveland on March 11 and the Bucks in Milwaukee on March 17. Star guard Devin Booker is working his way back from injury, doing his first on-court work Friday since the injury, per Rankin, but he’s listed as doubtful for Saturday’s tilt against Boston. The Suns are 0.5 games ahead of the Kings for sixth in the West before Saturday’s slate of games.