Brooklyn Nets: 5 takeaways from defensive gem at Phoenix

2. Russell contributed to a win on a cold shooting night

The M.O. on D’Angelo Russell for most of his career has been this — if he scores, his team has a chance. If he doesn’t, Russell doesn’t do enough of the other things to make up for it and his team could be in trouble.

Well, that theory was dispelled at least for one night, as Russell — on a night when his shooting was not there — did a lot of other things to contribute.

For starters, he was turnover-free for the first time since joining the Brooklyn Nets last season.

Let’s say that once more for emphasis — for the first time in 59 games as a Brooklyn Net, D’Angelo Russell did not turn the ball over. Russell played 27 minutes and had three assists, but his floor game was much stronger than the assist total belies.

He ended up with 15 points, but he scored six of those in the final 1:32 of the game. But Russell also had six rebounds, two steals and was extremely active at the defensive end for the second straight game.

If it is beginning to dawn on DLo that he can impact games even when he’s not scoring, it could be a huge next step, not only in his own development, but with the development of the Nets as a unit.