Los Angeles Lakers crash and burn vs. Cleveland…4 Lessons!

Kyle Kuzma still needs to play basketball…not just be a scorer!

Kyle Kuzma dropped 29 points which included 18 in the 4th quarter and grabbed 9 rebounds. He was electric down the stretch scoring in bunches to cut the lead to three late. If you take a look at the box score you would think that Kuzma played out of his mind right?

Let’s check out what he said after the game.

"“No disrespect to the Cavs, but they’re still an NBA team and for us we can’t take anything lightly, especially in this league,” Kuzma said. “Because we’re all professionals and you can lose on any given night if we don’t bring the effort, and that’s what happened tonight.”"

Okay, well the Lakers have a major problem. They tend to fall behind early in games. Their defense is almost non-existent.

Kyle Kuzma is part of the issue.

There is no way that Kuzma can allow Cedi Osman to get off by scoring eight of the Cavs first 13 points in the first quarter. That led to the Cavaliers shooting 14-25 from the field in the first quarter for 56 percent. This marks the fifth time in six games the Lakers have fallen behind in the first quarter.

Look this dude is very talented. We all know he can do this.

But the Lakers need more than high-flying dunks and long 3 point shots. He has to be a playmaker setting up his teammates and providing energy on the defensive end.

This needs to be repeated. If Kyle Kuzma wants to be the second guy behind LeBron James, he has to pay better attention to detail, especially on the defensive end. The slippage on the defensive end in the early stages have a lot to do with his play.