Three takeaways from the Lakers’ summer league loss to Cleveland

1. It was all going so well for Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell in the first half Thursday night, the game coming easy and his swag as high as ever.

But Russell fell back to earth with a thud in the second half of the Lakers’ 88-80 defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer league in Las Vegas.

Russell shot brick after brick after brick in the final 20 minutes, going 0-for-10 until he made a shot late in the game to finish one-for-11 in the second half.

Russell was a minus-18 in the plus-minus category, another sign of how poorly he played.

He had 19 points, but was seven-for-20 from the field.

He had five rebounds, four assists and three more turnovers.

2. Before Larry Nance Jr. suffered what the Lakers called a “probable” broken right hand in the fourth quarter, he was the best player they had on the court.

Nance defended, scored, assisted. He displayed quick and active hands.

He was assertive in everything he did.

Nance seemingly was always in the right spot on defense, helping his teammates, keeping his own man in front of him.

He finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Nance shot the ball with confidence, once even sinking a jumper from about 18 feet on a pick-and-pop.

3. Ivica Zubac continued to be impressive.

Zubac, who has become a fan favorite, had 10 points, seven rebounds and one blocked shot.

He showed a nice post game, getting the ball down low while being bumped a couple of times. Then Zubac made a step-back shot off the backboard.

And there was the moment when Zubac ran the court, took a pass and threw down a two-handed dunk.

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner