The Los Angeles Lakers lost their fourth straight game, but they did see some encouraging progress from Kyle Kuzma.
Coming into their big Christmas Day showdown against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers were on a three-game winning streak. With both LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the lineup after being listed as questionable prior, many were hoping the Lakers would end their losing streak.
Unfortunately, the Clippers were able to get the best of the Lakers once again in this game. This is now the second time this season that the Lakers lost to the Clippers, as the Lakers blew a 12-point halftime lead in the third quarter. With the game being tight in the fourth, the Lakers were unable to get it done in crunch time.
While a four-game losing streak for the Lakers looked like something impossible a few weeks ago, it has become a reality for the Lakers. Even though they lost, there was a really encouraging sign from the game. That was the play of Kyle Kuzma.
Due to injuries, this has not been the easiest of seasons so far for Kuzma. This season, Kuzma is averaging just over 11 points a game, as he really hasn’t found any sort of rhythm yet this season.
However, in the loss to the Clippers, Kuzma had easily his best game of the season. On Christmas, Kuzma totaled a team-high 25 points on 8-for-17 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
The scoring output from Kuzma off the bench helped the Lakers establish a big lead at halftime. One of the keys to the game for the Lakers was to keep up with the explosive bench of the Clippers. The play of Kuzma certainly helped them do that, but it wasn’t enough.
Scoring off the bench has been an issue for the Lakers this season, but a healthy Kuzma can help solve some of those problems. Even though the final score was not what the Lakers wanted, the play of Kuzma was very encouraging. Hopefully, Kuzma can stay healthy and use this as a stepping stone for some consistent play.