Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons from blowout win over Detroit Pistons

Kyle Kuzma was the best player on the floor…

There was talk on Twitter that Kyle Kuzma could easily go for 50 in this game. The way the Pistons were playing, 60 was not out of the question. For three quarters, Kuzma gave them the business…

Kyle Kuzma scored 41 points on an absurdly efficient 16-24 shooting and dropping 5-10 from the 3-point area. It really is amazing that some actually complained about the fact that he had zero assists and only two rebounds in the game. If I was as hot as Kuzma in this game, I wouldn’t have passed the ball either. Some just don’t get the point.

What is the exciting point here is that his teammates realized that Kuz had the hot hand and made sure that he got the ball in positions to score. Kuzma basically broke the spirit of the Pistons, scoring 22 points in the third quarter on the strength of four 3-point shots. On the last one, he was fouled and the game was over from that point.

Kyle Kuzma joined the company of Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, James Harden and his teammate LeBron James as the only players to drop 40 points or more in three quarters. This just in to Lake Show Life, all of these guys are pretty good scorers.

This had to feel good for Kyle Kuzma. He grew up being a Pistons fan in Flint Michigan. You had to know the family was watching and he gave them something to enjoy the entire time he was on the floor.

What impressed me the most about Kyle Kuzma was that he could have easily gone back in the game and tried to get 50 points. Instead he saw the big picture and spent the last frame resting his sore back not risking aggravation that could hinder him on Friday against Utah.

For a 21-year-old that had the crowd in the palm of his hands, that shows major growth in maturity.

Let’s get to another reason why Kuz may have had no assists…