After a few days off, the Los Angeles Lakers were back playing the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. However, their lineup looked a bit different.
With the return of Larry Nance Jr. against the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton had to adjust his rotation.
To start the season, the Lakers used Nance as the starting power forward. Replacing him during the injury was rookie Kyle Kuzma. This season, Kuzma has taken the league by storm, as he is one of the best scoring rookies in the NBA. With an ability to score in multiple ways, Kuzma looks like a veteran scorer rather than a rookie so far this season.
As a starter, it really looked like Kuzma was blossoming, and many thought he would stay there. Despite Kuzma playing very well as a starter, Walton made the decision to re-insert Nance into the starting lineup on his first game back.
In an entertaining game against the Clippers, Kuzma was able to put together a very solid performance off the bench. On Monday, Kuzma totaled 15 points on five-for-seven shooting from the floor in 19 minutes.
What was very surprising in the game was the fact that Kuzma played less than 20 minutes and also that he didn’t finish the game for the Lakers. While players do like to start games, finishing games are more important, and that is something that he has been doing. Kuzma did get on the court with less than a minute to play, but it was Randle and Nance who played together mostly down the stretch.
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Considering that Kuzma scored at least 17 points in his four previous games, all of which he did rather efficiently, it was shocking to see him play such a small role. As one of the best young players in the league and a player that has certainly been a bright spot on the Lakers, playing Kuzma as little as Walton did is rather shocking.