D'Angelo Russell is in the midst of his best stretch of basketball in his NBA career.
The numbers over his last four games are pretty incredible:
D'Angelo Russell's last four games:
-30 points, 8 assists
-52 points, 5 assists
-30 points, 7 assists
-33 points, 8 assists
(49% shooting overall, 42% on 3s)— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) November 12, 2019
Steph Curry is out until February at the earliest and Klay Thompson just might miss the entire season.
As a result, Russell is the Warriors' focal point and the offense is running through him:
Sports
D'Angelo Russell shot attempts off high ball screens this season:
-First four games = 26 (6.5 per game)
-Last four games = 72 (18 per game) pic.twitter.com/dDM3X8n2cJ— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) November 12, 2019
Coach Steve Kerr is making the right decision by letting the 23-year-old run things. Russell is most effective when the ball is in his hands, and he's probing the defense in high ball screen situations.
D'Angelo Russell could make a great living if he quit the NBA and just taught people how to shoot floaters. Special pic.twitter.com/oGhwSp0AU8— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) November 12, 2019
This D'Angelo inside out dribble + the floater is absolutely filthy pic.twitter.com/NDeWJDH4zH— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) November 9, 2019
The 2019 Eastern Conference All-Star is a very good 3-point shooter, but his bread-and-butter (like Kevin Durant) is the mid-range game.
Among all guards last season, Russell made the second-most shots in the 10-to-14-foot range (113), and drilled them at a very impressive 50.7 percent clip (DeMar DeRozan went 128-for-300, which is just 42.7 percent).
[RELATED: Kerr explains Draymond's 'really bizarre' reality on Dubs]
He's still finding success in that zone this year, but he's been even better from 15-to-19-feet:
D'Angelo Russell mid-range shooting the last three games:
-10 to 14 feet = 8-for-16
-15 to 19 feet = 11-for-16 pic.twitter.com/kzkfe17rA9— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) November 12, 2019
Russell is bound to cool off at some point. But for now, just sit back and enjoy the "Dloading Show."
