No LeBron James, no Anthony Davis? No problem for the Los Angeles Lakers. Third-year forward Kyle Kuzma stepped up big-time for the short-handed Lakers and dropped a season-high 36 points in their recently concluded 125-110 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
✨ Season-high for Kuz ✨@kylekuzma's 36 PTS power the @Lakers to the road win! pic.twitter.com/Is6FAew1Yi
— NBA (@NBA) January 12, 2020
With their superstar duo in dress clothes on the sidelines, Kuzma feasted with all the shots he can handle. He shot 15-of-24 from the field, made four three-pointers, and grabbed seven rebounds in 40 minutes. His 24 attempts from the field also marked a season-high for the 24-year-old.
Kuzma recently said that he plays better and gets into a better flow if he is given more minutes. That was certainly the case on Saturday.
Kuzma has shown that he is a very capable scorer when given the touches. He has certainly been much better for the Lakers since he returned from an ankle injury that sidelined him for over a week in December.
Since then, the 6-foot-8 stretch-four is averaging 15.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. However, he is shooting just 41.0 percent from the field and 30.9 percent through this stretch.
The Lakers have championship aspirations this season. They are looking good with a 32-7 record as they sit atop the Western Conference standings. Still, this hasn't stopped the Lakers from looking into possible ways to improve their roster.
Kyle Kuzma has been involved in all sorts of trade chatter these past few days. His best performance of the season, however, could still make the Lakers go in either direction. Either this convinces them that he is a valuable piece in their eventual playoff run this season, or this only raises his trade value even more.
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