The host of one of India’s favorite sports podcasts, The Kev Pod with Kevin Somani stops by to talk about the excitement for the resumption of the season and an international look at how the playoffs may look.
Posts
Pincus: Lou Will likely to get 10-14 days in quarantine
The NBA, I expect, will say yes and will put him in quarantine for 10-14 days w/loss of salary. He could try to fight that I suppose though not sure he'd have much of a leg to stand on given the circumstances
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 26, 2020
Four takeaways from the Lakers’ first scrimmage against Dallas
Four takeaways from the Lakers’ first scrimmage against Dallas https://t.co/Q9Uu20yJnr via @LakersSBN
— LakerTom (@LakerTom) July 26, 2020
1.Is Anthony Davis’ jump shot for real?
2. LeBron James really seemed to enjoy the layoff
3. Dion Waiters is exactly as advertised
4. It will be torture every time a Lakers backcourt player gets nicked up
Did a four-month layoff help Kyle Kuzma rediscover his jump shot?
Kyle Kuzma had a great day.
But the Lakers have been here before.
Where is the hope that Kuzma's 25-point scrimmage Saturday might be a sign of things to come? The long NBA pause gave him time to heal, reflect and improve | @billoramhttps://t.co/DDLdVITgFs
— The Athletic L.A. (@TheAthleticLA) July 25, 2020
A day after his 25th birthday, Kuzma poured in a game-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting while knocking down five 3-pointers, the most in any of his games this season, in a 119-112 victory.
“What he did today,” Frank Vogel said, “he did all through our ‘restart training camp’ so to speak. I’m just really excited about what the restart is going to look like for him.”
And so the pendulum swings for Kuzma. No longer the youthful starter with a green light like he was in the days Luke Walton stalked the sideline, Kuzma has seen his minutes and scoring drop as the Lakers’ sixth man. Last season, he averaged 18.7 points in 33.1 minutes. This year: 12.5 points in 24.6 minutes.
But as Kuzma’s role on a deep and veteran team has necessarily diminished, it also has grown in importance.
Which is why a game like the one he turned in on Saturday is so intriguing.
It’s not like it was entirely out of nowhere. Kuzma has had big games this season. But his two best scoring efforts came when the Lakers were without one or both of their superstars. On Jan. 10, he scored 26 points with Anthony Davis out of the lineup. The next night he exploded for a season-high 35 against Oklahoma City when both LeBron James and Davis sat out.
And even though the Lakers lost Davis in the first quarter on Saturday after he was poked in the eye, the victory over Orlando reignited that spark of hope for what Kuzma can be.