D’Angelo Russell will admit it: He is playing the best basketball of his career.

But as soon as the Nets point guard agreed with that sentiment, he was quick to follow it up with a qualifier.

“It goes back to winning,” Russell said Tuesday after practice. “I’ve never really won in this league, so for the individual success to come with our team success as well, smiles on my face every day with that. It’s a good feeling.”

In his fourth season in the NBA, Russell has already been a part of more wins this year than he has in any other as the Nets (25-23) head into Wednesday’s rematch with the Magic (20-27) at Barclays Center. He played in just 16 of the Nets’ 28 wins last season and was on the court for a combined 38 wins over two seasons with the Lakers before that.

But Russell is not just winning now. He has become a driving force behind the Nets’ surge into the hottest team in the league. In his past 10 games alone, he is averaging 24 points, 7.5 assists and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3.

“Unbelievable,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “He has great confidence right now, on both ends of the floor. I think the other guys are feeding off that confidence. And it’s not just the shots he’s making, but how he’s running the offense and his command of the offense and guys following his command and his leadership. That’s a big part of our success.”



Russell’s past two games have been two of his best. He has scored a combined 71 points, none of them at the foul line, making him the first player in the past 50 years to score at least 70 points without a free-throw attempt in a two-game span, per STATS. He also has committed just one turnover in that same span.

In the process, Russell’s shot selection has improved, driving to the basket more, getting hot from 3 and taking less of the mid-range jumpers “that I really dislike,” Atkinson said. After Monday’s win over the Kings, Atkinson called Russell’s pull-up 3s “Harden-esque.”

“Honestly I feel like I’ve always played with that [swagger], I’ve always had that,” Russell said. “When your teammates and coaches are preaching the same things and we’re falling into place where who we are as a team and who each individual is on this team … it allows my job to be easier to come in every day and just do my job.”

Russell is set to be a restricted free agent this summer, but has given the Nets something to think about regarding their future together.

At this time last year, Russell was just getting back into games after a two-month absence as he rehabbed after arthroscopic knee surgery. Now the 22-year-old has entered serious All-Star discussion.



“This is the best he’s played,” Atkinson said. “He’s playing at an All-Star level, quite honestly. And physically he looks great. I told him, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep doing it, because you look fast, you look recovered, you look spry.’ ”

Russell has had to answer questions throughout his career about being the No. 2-overall pick and playing up to that level. His recent stretch has lived up to those expectations, not that he wants to be defined by them anyway.

“When you’re the No. 1, No. 2 pick, once you get drafted all that kind of goes out the door,” Russell said. “I think I kind of left that behind when I was a rookie, but [the media] kind of brings it up all the time as if it’s something to talk about, but that kind of goes out the door, doesn’t really excite me anymore.”

What does? Winning.