December 25th: Timberwolves @ Lakers (L, 121-104)
31 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 6/11 on 3s
Christmas went a little sour for the Lakers, as the Timberwolves decked their halls (sorry) leading to a final of 121-104. The one bright spot of the game for the Lakers was the play of Kuzma.
He had six 3-pointers on the game, which was his second highest total for the year. He also got to the free throw line the most out of any game in his first season, attempting 13 free throws while making nine of them.
He also threw in two steals onto the stat line. Kuzma achieved a little Christmas Day milestone, becoming the only rookie since LeBron James in 2003 to score 30+ on Christmas in the past 30 years. Sadly, this performance was easily forgotten among other games throughout Kuzma’s season, as the game ended in a bad loss.
It wasn’t too surprising, as the Lakers were without Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. Either way, it was nice to see Kuzma ignore the dreary forecast of the game and still try to lead the team. You can see the future leadership potential within him in these sort of games.