Lakers' Scott: Williams earning 4th-quarter reps over Russell with stronger play

Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott has been reluctant to play his rookie point guard late in games this season, which is not uncommon; plenty of coaches are hesitant to trust young players in crunch time.

But the player Scott has put his faith in has scarcely proven more worthy of it than D'Angelo Russell - who the Lakers drafted second overall this past summer. Scott, who could soon find himself on the hot seat, has instead been handing the reins in the fourth quarter to offseason signee Lou Williams.

"He's got a couple of opportunities so far early in the season and he's going to get a lot more," Scott said of Russell, according to Mark Medina of the LA Daily News. "For me in the fourth quarter, in the last six or seven minutes, it's really who has been playing the best at that time. That's the guy I'm going to go with."

The numbers don't necessarily point to Williams as that guy. He's averaging 9.2 fourth-quarter minutes, tops on the team, while Russell is tied with Ryan Kelly for ninth at 5.5. Russell is shooting 47.4 percent from the field in the fourth, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4-to-1. Williams is shooting 28.3 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from 3-point range in those 9.2 minutes.

In fairness to Williams, he's also getting to the free-throw line (his bread and butter) a lot more often than Russell, and the Lakers are only getting outscored by 9.2 points per 100 possessions when he plays in the final frame, as opposed to an appalling 19 per 100 when Russell's on the floor.

Williams says part of the issue for Russell is that he's been trying for too many "home-run passes," and generally not playing within himself.

"He just got to understand there's nine guys on the floor that has the same talent level if not better than he has," Williams said. "In college, he has two or three guys on the floor that can really play. You'll have six or seven guys, they're just decent. Here, there's 10 guys on the floor that can play that can sniff out the no-look passes and sniff out some of the fancy things you want to do. He just has to get adjusted to that."

The best way for Russell to learn, of course, is by doing. Given that the Lakers' playoff prospects are dim to nonexistent, now seems like the perfect time for him to be getting his feet wet with some extended crunch-time reps.