When D’Angelo Russell left Los Angeles, he was called a snitch, and Magic Johnson said he needed a leader after trading him. On Friday, Russell returned to lead the Nets to victory over the Lakers and knock his former team out of the playoffs officially and LeBron James out of the playoffs for the first time since 2005.



Russell is playing the best basketball of his career. Russell led Brooklyn to a 111-106 win with 21 points, 13 assists, three steals and a plus-12 rating in 34 minutes played. Russell’s performance came off a career-high 44 points, including 27 in the fourth quarter, with 12 assists and four steals in a 28-point comeback win over the Sacramento Kings.



This season, Russell is third in the league in assist percentage (39.3) trailing only James Harden (39.7) and Russell Westbrook (43.1). He’s also currently the sixth player in league history to average 20-plus points and 6.5-plus assists with 200-plus 3-pointers made in a season joining...