The Los Angeles Lakers have been on a bit of a slide recently, losing seven of their last eight games. One thing that has hurt them has been injuries, as the team has lost multiple starters already, and now may be down rookie phenom Kyle Kuzma.
In the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Kuzma was kneed in the thigh. Though he did return to the game, he was limping noticeably and it certainly did nothing to help his rough shooting night.
With the Lakers set to play the L.A. Clippers on Friday, Kuzma is currently being listed as questionable for the game, per Tania Ganguli of the L.A. Times:
Kyle Kuzma will be listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Clippers.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) December 28, 2017
Kuzma had a rough night against the Grizzlies, shooting just 4-of-24 to finish with nine points and eight rebounds in the Lakers’ 10-point loss. He still remains the team’s leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, and the Lakers can ill afford to lose him on top of their already missing players.
The loss of Lonzo Ball has had a major effect on the team and that was even more apparent in Wednesday’s loss as ball movement was lacking. Additionally, starting center Brook Lopez going down has really hurt the Lakers’ rim protection as Lopez was top-10 in the league in blocks.
The good news for Kuzma is that it is a minor injury overall and he shouldn’t miss any significant amount of time, if any at all. The Lakers are already struggling as it is and being without their leading scorer would just give them another obstacle as they try to turn things around.
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