Here is what you need to know before the Lakers return home to take on the
Portland Trail Blazers.
1) Kuz is on a historic pace Not since Jerry West in 1961 had a rookie Laker
scored 25-plus points in three straight games. But a red-hot Kyle Kuzma has done
just that, putting up 25, 38 and 27 this past week.
The 22-year-old’s scorching streak has been made all the more impressive by the
fact that he rose to the occasion against the NBA’s best teams, facing Golden
State twice and Houston during this surge.
Kuzma has been electric from deep over the past three outings, hitting 14-of-22
on 3-pointers (63.6 percent), while still getting to the cup for a 10-of-13 mark
on layups.
The 27th-overall pick is now averaging 20.3 points as a starter and 17.7 as a
whole, placing him a few decimal points ahead of Donovan Mitchell for the league
lead in rookie scoring.
Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers tonight with a team-high 27 points and 14 rebounds
against Golden State. pic.twitter.com/TqUJhuNlx0
2) Lonzo is making defenses pay from deep For the first quarter of Lonzo
Ball’s rookie season, defenses dared him to shoot, and for good reason. The
Chino Hills native had hit just 25.7 percent of his 3-point attempts through
November, hovering at or around last place in the NBA for most of the season.
While Ball — who ranks among the top 10 in assists, grabs more rebounds than
almost everyone at his position and plays good defense — contributed in other
ways, his shooting wasn’t giving much to his team.
But that has flipped over the last five games, in which he has hit 16-of-34 from
downtown (47.1 percent) and made defenses have to think about going under
screens and generally giving him room to shoot.
He was particularly accurate against the Warriors on Friday, canning 5-of-6
3-pointers on his way to 24 points — his second-highest scoring display yet.
The next handful of games will tell if this is a hot streak for Lonzo or a sign
that he has truly become more comfortable with his shot, as he was hitting 41.2
percent of 3’s at UCLA.
3) The Blazers come to L.A. without their leader Damian Lillard always
brings his best against the Lakers, as shown by his career 25.9 points per game
versus the purple and gold.
But Lillard, the NBA’s eighth-leading scorer, is out for this game, leaving the
Blazers looking for offense elsewhere.
The most likely outcome is even more shots for C.J. McCollum, who has hit the
league’s second-most jumpers. However, McCollum doesn’t have the type of deadly
driving that Lillard — the NBA’s most productive pick-and-roll handler — does.
Also expect to see more of Jusuf Nurkic, who is a dangerous roll man, wields a
reliable hook shot in the post and scored 28 points in his last game against the
Lakers.
Injury Report Lakers: Brook Lopez (right ankle sprain) is out. Blazers: Damian
Lillard (right hamstring strain) is out.
Tip-Off: 6:30 p.m. PT TV: Spectrum SportsNet and Spectrum Deportes Radio: 710
ESPN and 1330 KWKW Unis: Gold Location: Staples Center — Los Angeles,
California
Click here to view game notes for this contest.
Player: Lonzo Ball
Player: Kyle Kuzma
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