D'Angelo Russell Wows Fans with LeBron James, Anthony Davis out as Lakers Beat Kings

The Los Angeles Lakers were without LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish—and probably most of their fan base, given the Los Angeles Dodgers were playing Game 3 of the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks around the same time—during Wednesday's preseason matchup with the Sacramento Kings.

So it was D'Angelo Russell time.

The Lakers point guard played well in the team's 109-101 win, finishing with 21 points and eight assists.

He was one of five Lakers to score double-digit points. The Kings' star pairing of De'Aaron Fox (18 points, five assists) and Domantas Sabonis (10 points, 16 rebounds, five assists) played well in the loss.

In a tough night for Los Angeles' sports fans—the Dodgers lost 4-2 against the D-Backs and were swept out of the postseason in the process—DLo provided some solace with his strong play:

Russell's 2022-23 season did not end on a positive note. He was a complete no-show in the Denver Nuggets' four-game sweep of the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, averaging just 6.3 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 32.3 percent from the field and 13.3 percent from three.

That put his future in Los Angeles in question, though the Lakers ultimately brought him back on a two-year, $36 million deal with a player option for the 2024-25 season.

The Lakers had a strong offseason in general, bringing back Reaves and Rui Hachimura while adding Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and Reddish. Russell will enter the season as the team's starting point guard ahead of Vincent, and given his strong play this preseason, it seems likely he'll keep that role.