D’Angelo Russell gives Lakers a scare, but it’s only a bruise

The Lakers didn’t need this again, another rookie being helped off the court, but it happened to D’Angelo Russell on Tuesday. Russell made an unexpected exit and the Lakers lost to the Utah Jazz, 117-114, in overtime of an exhibition game at the University of Hawaii.

Russell bore the brunt of a collision after fouling Jazz center Rudy Gobert with 7:42 left in the first quarter.

“I just tried to come across with help defense and made contact with a bigger guy,� Russell said. “I just fell wrong. I didn’t want to give up the easy lay-up and I tried to contest it. I just got caught and landed on my tailbone.�

He stayed on the court for about two minutes, rocking his body slowly and in obvious pain as teammates surrounded him. He was then helped into the locker room by two Lakers players with longtime trainer Gary Vitti close behind.

A few minutes later, word trickled out of the locker room: Russell sustained a “bruised glute,� the Lakers said. He was even expected to return, though that prognosis changed half an hour later.

“The glute is not really firing,� Lakers spokesman John Black said. “If it was, he would go back in the game.�

Translation: The Lakers were moving cautiously. And this was only an exhibition game.

After the game, Russell said “sure� when asked if he could play in the Lakers’ next exhibition, Thursday against Toronto in Ontario, Calif.

Regardless, it was an uncomfortable flashback for the franchise, a too-soon follow-up to Julius Randle’s injury in the regular-season opener last October. Randle sustained a broken right tibia and was carted off via stretcher after a collision with two Houston Rockets players in the fourth quarter of that game. He did not play another minute all season.

Russell, the second pick in this year’s draft, represents a large slice of the Lakers’ future. He was given the starting job in the exhibition opener by Coach Byron Scott and again in Tuesday’s rematch with Utah.

He made only two of eight shots Sunday but was seen working on his touch long before Tuesday’s tipoff at the University of Hawaii.

Earlier in the day, long before the Lakers experienced their unsettling few minutes, Scott had only kind things to say about Russell and Randle.

The impromptu talks Scott has once or twice a day with them are anything but daily affirmations.

The two players are essentially rookies, and they don’t want sugar cookies or, with all due respect to the hosts here, rainbows.

They want the truth. Scott gives it to them. It’s heady stuff for the 19-year-old (Russell) and 20-year-old (Randle).

“They’re coming to me, ‘Coach, what do you see, what do you think, what do I have to do?’ That tells me that they want to be good,� Scott said. “They want to work on those things that they’re not doing well. I love the interaction that we have with one another.

“They know right now they’re pretty good but I keep telling them, ‘I think you could be great but these are the things that you have to do to get there.’�

For Randle, it’s a better outside shot, almost a required tool for a power forward in today’s game, especially one a tad undersized.

For Russell, it’s even more than that, not unexpected for someone who was preparing for a season opener against UMass Lowell a year ago.

He has “astronomical� court vision, to steal Kobe Bryant’s adjective, but his drives to the basket have been a little out of control and his shooting could use some fine-tuning.

“Everybody has a different view of themselves. My view of him might be a little bit different,� Scott said. “I’m just trying to let him know what I think he needs to do on a day-to-day basis to be successful.�

Russell didn’t accumulate any stats in his four minutes before getting hurt.

Randle, on the other hand, showed something at the NBA level. He looked stout in the loss, totaling 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Most notably, he dunked after Roy Hibbert missed from down low and, not long after that, scored after rebounding his own miss.

Bryant was sharp in 20 minutes, of action, scoring 13 points on five-for-nine shooting and adding three assists. He was crisp early, making a long jump shot and a three-pointer, but he also airballed one.

He showed just enough of his past flash, backing down Alec Burks in the right post and beating him with a turnaround. He made four of eight shots in the first half as the Lakers trailed, 49-48.

Hibbert had 16 points and 11 rebounds, though a lot of it came against Jazz reserves.

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Twitter: @Mike_Bresnahan