Los Angeles Lakers rising star forward Kyle Kuzma poured out an amazing first half of play on Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Not only did Kuzma lead the Lakers in scoring during the first 24 minutes of action with 24 points, he did not miss a single shot from the floor on any of his first nine attempts.
ClutchPoints' own Ryan Ward noted on Twitter that Kuzma's career-high was 30 points heading into tonight's contest, which he eventually passed late in the third quarter when he drained his seventh 3-pointer.
Kyle Kuzma’s career-high point total is 30 which he scored against the Suns on 11/17. He could crush that tonight with 24 at the half #Lakers
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) December 21, 2017
New career-high for Kyle Kuzma as he’s now got 33 points in 3 quarters #Lakers
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) December 21, 2017
Ward also noted that Kuzma tied another rookie record on the season with the Utah Jazz's Donovan Mitchell as the only two first-year players to make at least six 3-pointers in a game.
Kyle Kuzma’s 6 made 3-pointers ties Brook Lopez for most made by a #Lakers player this season. He’s also joins Donovan Mitchell as the only rookies with 6 made 3’s in a game. Mitchell has done it twice, via Lakers PR
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) December 21, 2017
The Lakers, who led by as many as 22 points in the second quarter, let the Rockets storm back at the end of the first half as Los Angeles went into halftime with a 63-59 over Houston. The Lakers went toe-to-toe with the Rockets over the next 12 minutes and outbattled them en route to a 94-89 lead at the end of the third quarter.
As of this writing, the Lakers are in the thick of it as they hang their heads above water against the league-leading Rockets.