The basketball was passed ahead to D’Angelo Russell in stride while Anthony Davis trailed on the fast break. Russell then passed the ball to Davis, who sucked in the defense before he threw it back to Russell.

Russell calmly tossed up a three-pointer that gave the Lakers a 22-point lead in the third quarter. And then in the fourth quarter, Russell struck again. He grabbed a defensive rebound, rushed up court and drilled a three-pointer that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 23 points.

And it had become clear that Russell is a much more engaged player when he starts, which he has done the last three games after being demoted to the bench 12 games ago.

In a 127-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night, Russell led the Lakers in scoring with 29 points, to go with four rebounds and three assists. He was 11-for-20 from the field and five-for-seven from three-point range