Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons from win over Spurs

3. Kyle Kuzma quietly has a huge impact

LeBron James was epic, Lonzo Ball was great as well, but Kyle Kuzma was a very important piece throughout the game…

Kuzma had 22 points with 9 rebounds and 5 assists, but he scored enough to combat the 31 points that Rudy Gay put on the Lakers which included 16 points in the 3rd quarter. He played hard and competed and did not allow himself to get down when the Spurs made their run.

Let’s look at this fast break play again…LeBron makes a great steal, but you see that Kyle Kuzma run his lane hard with a purpose. We all know that James is a willing passer so there’s no way that the Spurs can stop him for the slam dunk.

Here’s another example of how hard he plays with energy…

Again with Rudy Gay being hot, Kuzma did not hang his head. He just went back at him. Here he blows by Gay using a Ball screen and takes the ball strong to the rim. That breaks down the defense and it draws LaMarcus Aldridge over to help. JaVale McGee sees this and rotates to the rim and dunks the ball through after a sweet pass from Kuzma.

This is what Magic Johnson envisioned. Multiple playmakers. I mean look at this pass…pure filth.

Believe me folks, there are fans that think this guy should be traded too.