D'Angelo Russell Electrifies NBA Fans as LeBron James, Lakers Rout Pistons

D'Angelo Russell had one of those "Am I reading that right?" stat lines on Wednesday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers point guard put up 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the field (5-of-7 from three), nine assists and—in what may be the most surprising number of them all—two blocks, leading his team to a 133-107 dismantling of the young Detroit Pistons.

Anthony Davis added 28 points, 16 boards, four assists and three blocks, while LeBron James had 25 points and eight rebounds. Cade Cunningham led the way for Detroit with 15 points and five assists.

James also got a technical foul for flopping in the game, perhaps a therapeutic moment for his detractors and a bit of a funny moment given his history with Isaiah Stewart:

But this was the DLo Show, and while some fans and pundits got off jokes about Russell only going off against bad teams, most gave him his props for an excellent shooting and play-making performance:

Russell earned his hot-and-cold reputation to a certain degree after his awful performance in the Western Conference Finals last season (6.3 PPG, 32.3 percent from the field, 13.3 percent from three).

But he's been solid this season, justifying the Lakers' decision to bring him back on a two-year, $36 million contract this summer (with a player option for next year). He's been the team's third-leading scorer (16.7 PPG coming into the night) and second-best playmaker (6.2 APG) despite the belief in some corners of Laker Land that Austin Reaves was becoming the No. 3 guy behind James and AD.

Wednesday night's Russell is closer to the Russell the Lakers (11-8) will need in the postseason than the one they got against the Denver Nuggets in May. Most teams are going to provide more resistance than the 2-16 Pistons, however.