Those spurned chances ultimately came back to haunt the Highlanders as the Lions peeled off 22 straight points to win the game, and consign the Highlanders to their fourth straight loss.
The weariness from playing at altitude at Johannesburg was obvious to see in the last 20 minutes.
Players were down to a walk, and the Lions side sailed into attack and took the lead with an Earl Rose try with 10 minutes left.
An Andre Pretorius dropped goal saw them further extend the lead and though the Highlanders were within sight of the line in the dying stages they could not get through.
Russell acknowledged the altitude did have an effect on the players and they had kept back their substitutions until there was 15 to 20 minutes left to try to combat those tired legs.
The side was not helped by the late loss of first five-eighth Mathew Berquist, who suffered a back injury in the warm-up, and was replaced by Jayden Hayward, having only his second start in the competition.
Hayward played as well as he could, but the side had a lack of ball near the end and it told.
Russell said when the Highlanders were under pressure in the last 30 minutes it would probably have been wiser to take a more simplistic approach.
"We forced quite a bit of ball and didn't control the ball enough.
It was looking like we were the ones playing catch-up rugby yet we were ahead," Russell said.
He said perhaps that was the inexperience of the side coming through, as it was still a relatively new side at this level.
Though the Highlanders scored three tries in the first half, it still wasted other opportunities, Russell said.
The side needed to take charge and hold on to the ball for a period, he said.
Blindside flanker Adam Thomson was the best player on the paddock for the Highlanders.
He made plenty of tackles, ran hard and was all over the park.
Thomson smacked a 60m kick downfield, chased it to nab Rose, robbed the ball and fed it on to set up Alando Soakai for the first try.
Ben Smith scored a good try running through a couple of tackles from 10m out, while captain Jimmy Cowan collected a typical sniping effort.
Soakai had a good game, while Smith continues to impress.
But it was not enough as the fast-finishing Lions came racing home.
The Highlanders next play in Perth.
They at least had the benefit of a headstart by getting on the plane to Australia while the Force were losing to the Stormers in Cape Town.
The Highlanders will welcome back the suspended Daniel Bowden.
Russell said the side had plenty to play for and needed to finish the season with a win.
Lions 27 (Michael Killian, Willem Alberts, Jano Vermaak, Earl Rose tries; Andre Pretorius 2 conversions, dropped goal), Highlanders 22 (Alando Soakai, Ben Smith, Jimmy Cowan tries; Israel Dagg 2 conversions, penalty goal).
Half-time: Highlanders 19-5.
