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Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma broke out of his slump on Monday night, scoring 25 points on 8-for-20 shooting (5-for-9 3pt) with 11 rebounds and seven assists across 40 minutes in the 121-119 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. However, the former NBA champion got hurt.
Kuzma is out for Wednesday's home contest against the Hawks with a right groin strain, via the NBA injury report. The former Los Angeles Laker sustained the injury in the fourth quarter on Monday, and his “recovery status will be updated as appropriate,” via the Wizards' social media.
Kuzma's absence will force head coach Brian Keefe to start a backup against Atlanta. Small forward/shooting guard Corey Kispert, who recently signed a four-year, $54 million extension, may get the call.
Kyle Kuzma is a major piece to the Wizards' puzzle
Kuzma was relieved to regain his form after a rough start to the season, via The Washington Post's Varun Shankar.
“It was good to see the ball go in for sure because I didn’t really make shots the first two games,” the Utah alum said. “Played like poop the first two games. Happy I finally hit some shots.”
Indeed, Kuzma wasn't at his best out of the gate, scoring 26 points on 9-32 shooting, including an 0-f0r-9 clip from deep. It's no coincidence that Washington won its first game when the 29-year-old got out of his funk.
Make no mistake, Kuzma and Jordan Poole are still the top threats on the roster despite the recent infusion of young talent. Poole has yet to falter this season, averaging 22 points per game on 51.2% shooting with a blistering 61.5% clip from deep to go with five assists and three steals. The former Golden State Warrior scored 26 points with five assists and two steals on Monday.
Kuzma and Poole won't have standout games every time, but Washington will undoubtedly improve on its franchise-worst 15-67 record from last season if they do it more often than not.
