The Los Angeles Lakers continue to see a star in the making when it comes to rookie Kyle Kuzma. The first-round draft pick has become one of the team's best players in a very short time as he seemingly fits Luke Walton's system perfectly.
On Friday night, Kuzma had another solid performance with the Utah product scoring a career-high 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds against the visiting Phoenix Suns. It was the first time since 1980 that a rookie has put up those numbers, and that player was none other than Magic Johnson.
The rookie forward was as resilient as ever missing his first six shots of the game and heading into halftime with only two points. Kuzma went on to score 28 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough with Los Angeles losing to the Suns for the first time in three games against their division rivals this season.
Head coach Luke Walton talked about Kuzma's performance after the game and how the rookie was able to turn things around after a disappointing first half.
“When we're playing the right way and we're playing with energy and competing, he's a matchup nightmare for teams, but in the first half, he took a bunch of shots that were off balance and quick and not what we were looking for,” Walton said of Kuzma. “I think in the second half he did a much better job of taking what the defense gave him and getting his feet under him. Credit to him for turning it around in the second half, but we also need better starts from not just him, but from our team.”
Although Kuzma set a career-high point total for the second straight game, the 22-year-old made it clear that it doesn't matter and he's all about winning. The Lakers have lost two straight.
“It is cool, but I am a winner,” Kuzma said. “I like to win. Stats really don't matter to me, I just try to play hard, and I want to win.”
Los Angeles is now 6-10 on the season after falling to the Philadelphia 76ers and Suns in consecutive games at the Staples Center. Despite promising performances out of Kuzma throughout his rookie campaign thus far, the Lakers still have a lot to work on in order to right the ship and will look to get back on track on Sunday when they host the Denver Nuggets.
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