When D’Angelo Russell is engaged, aggressive, and in his bag, the Los Angeles Lakers resemble an entertaining, cohesive basketball team. That was the case on Sunday, as Russell helped the Lakers shake off their worst loss of the season with a stress-free 134-110 victory over the lowly Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena.

Russell finished with 34 points on 14-for-21 shooting, including 6-for-11 from 3, plus eight assists.

“He’s just really locked in on his game,” said Darvin Ham. “Tonight was one of the most complete games I’ve seen him play since he’s been back in a Lakers uniform. He was great on defense, great with his activity, great on and off the ball offensively.”

Russell has resembled his 2021 All-Star form since returning from a tailbone injury on Jan. 7. After not registering a 20+ point game in December, Russell has four 20+ point outings and two 30+ point nights over his last six contests (25.8 PPG).

I asked D’Angelo Russell about his patented heat check transition 3s that get the crowd going and when he decides that he’s gonna pull them, which he called his “superpower”: pic.twitter.com/4VaQNMbzdl

— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) January 22, 2024

Russell’s looseness and pace eased the burden on Anthony Davis (26 minutes) and LeBron James (28 points in 31 minutes) — always welcome in a doldrum game. The outcome vs. Portland was never in doubt.

“You’ve got to be aggressive around these guys,” Russell said. “You know, you compliment these guys by being aggressive — not passing to them. Like, that’s easy to guard. You’re easy to guard when it’s like that.”

"Just been aggressive and looking for his shot, and we continue to try and find [D’Angelo Russell], especially in transtion… The only way to get fastbreak points is to defend without fouling."

—LeBron James 🗣️

(via @SpectrumSN)pic.twitter.com/klXrvvLbP2

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 22, 2024

The Lakers benefited from 35 fast-break points, including a season-high 15 from LeBron (pregame, Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pointed out, with amazement, that LeBron is nearly atop the NBA in fast-break points despite being its oldest player.) Fittingly, Russell produced the four most memorable.

On a breakaway in the second quarter, Russell bounced a lob up to a trailing James.

Bounce Lob!!! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/gV9MaeX6yZ

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 22, 2024

Later, he went UCLA Baron Davis on Malcolm Brogdon, drawing a “that’s nasty” expression from James.

https://t.co/YKtinKIxDb pic.twitter.com/VGuftZr8Ad

— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) January 22, 2024