Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron and the bench overcome Memphis, 5 Lessons
By Ronald Agers
Kyle Kuzma for some reason plays better in the starting lineup than coming off the bench!
Does this mean that he will be starting anytime soon? Nope. However some players are more engaged when they see their name on the board amongst the first five. Want an example? Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The start of this game was the carbon copy of the loss against Portland. LeBron came out of the gate firing and Kyle Kuzma had his rhythm going from behind the arc.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1345876152079015937
Then Kyle Kuzma must have left the state to go to Georgia to see how the Senate vote was coming along because he basically vanished until the 4th quarter. He finished the game with 11 points (4-9 shooting!) with only one more 3 pointer than the two seen above. He also had 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and a assist.
Along with KCP in the Portland game, this is the second time the Los Angeles Lakers have let a potential hot hand early go completely cold. Remember LeBron was on his game early too. Only LeBron can take over ball handling duties if needed when the supporting players are dealt with losing their hot hand and rhythm.
Read on to see where this issue lies. Lake Show Life has said it before. This game just adds to the piling evidence the staff is collecting!