With a tone as flat as an NBA backboard, D’Angelo Russell emphasized that what he was about to say required emphasis.

He then said, “I’m going to continue to stress it.” But what you see is a group getting the hang of things.

On Monday night, after his Lakers squeaked out a victory against the Orlando Magic, Russell addressed the media and made these comments.

Midway through the first quarter on Wednesday, the end of the voyage still didn’t appear to be in sight.

A 12th straight loss to their neighbors, the Clippers, appeared likely, and it almost surely was going to be lopsided and ugly.

Then, with help from the NBA’s career scoring leader, it wasn’t.

LeBron James scored 35 points in 42 minutes of action to help the Lakers upset the Clippers 130-125 in overtime. This was James’ first victory over the Clippers since the 2020 playoffs.

The Clippers were led by Kawhi Leonard (38 points), Paul George (35 points), and Russell Westbrook (24 points).

Austin Reaves, who had been mired in an early slump, scored seven of the Lakers’ 13 overtime points, topping things up with an over-the-shoulder pass to James for a dunk. Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell both scored 27 points for the Lakers.

In the first quarter, Leonard scored 18 points despite playing on the second night of a back-to-back. He made his first five shots. Before back-to-back three-pointers by the Lakers at the very end of the quarter, the Clippers had built a 19-point lead.

From then on out, the Lakers did not pose much of a danger while also not going anywhere.

The Lakers were already short-handed due to the absences of Rui Hachimura (concussion protocol), Jared Vanderbilt (heel), and Gabe Vincent (knee), but Prince went down with left knee pain in pregame warmups.

Cam Reddish was immediately inserted into the starting lineup for the Lakers. In the end, they had no choice but to start Davis alongside the other centers, Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood, who were in reserve. And the innovation all paid off.

Since Reddish’s first layup, the Lakers have trailed by double digits, but with their big three on the court in the third quarter, they turned the game around and took the lead.

Reddish’s on-ball defense, Reaves’ timely scoring, and the tenacity of Hayes, Wood, and Max Christie off the bench all helped the Lakers win.

The Lakers built a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, but the Clippers came storming back behind clutch shooting from Leonard, George, and Westbrook to steal the victory.

when being fouled by Reddish with 17 seconds remaining, George made three free throws to tie the game, forcing overtime when Russell’s potential game-winning shot fell short.

After George fouled out with less than a minute remaining in overtime, the Lakers were able to rally and win on a putback dunk by Wood in the dying seconds.

The Lakers finally figured it out in front of everyone’s eyes, but it took time, as Russell had mentioned earlier in the week.