The Los Angeles Lakers lost their second preseason game, but forward Kyle Kuzma continued to shine.
Easily a bright spot for the Los Angeles Lakers once again was the play of Kyle Kuzma. On Monday night, the Lakers got off to a great start against the Denver Nuggets. After the first quarter, the Lakers were able to hold a nice lead, but it eventually fell apart.
In the first quarter, the Lakers were able to establish their lead with a fast pace. However, that fast pace ended up resulting in a lot of turnovers. Even though things became very sloppy in the second and the third quarter, the Lakers did make a push late in the fourth.
One of the biggest takeaways from the game was the performance of Kuzma once again. In the loss, Kuzma once again played extremely well off the bench. Kuzma totaled 29 minutes, 23 points, and shot an effective nine-for-17 from the field.
Kuzma once again showed an ability to score in multiple ways, as he is proven to be a bonafide scorer in the NBA early on. Seeing Kuzma shoot four-for-nine from 3-point range was very encouraging. Kuzma’s ability to stretch the floor will help him play at both the 3 and the 4 this coming season.
Even though it has only been two preseason games, Kuzma has really played excellent since being drafted by the Lakers when you include the Summer League. Coming into the season, the Lakers have a lot of depth at both forward positions, however, Kuzma is forcing his way into more playing time.
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Despite coming off the bench, Kuzma ended up playing tied for the most minutes with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. After a strong start to the preseason, it is becoming very clear that Kuzma is going to have to play significant minutes for the Lakers off the bench to start the season. With his ability to score with ease, Kuzma has earned his spot in the Lakers’ rotation to start the season.