LOS ANGELES _ Someday Kyle Kuzma wants to be a closer, spoken about with the same level of respect afforded players such as Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving, whom he faced Tuesday night.
"Once I get some years under me and get more experience and more confident taking shots and whatnot," Kuzma said. "Hopefully in the future I can be one of those type of guys."
As he works to get there, Kuzma shows at times that he has it in him. He did so against Boston. Kuzma has never backed down from a stage and on Tuesday the stage was a nationally televised game against the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
When his team needed him most, Kuzma helped pull them past the Celtics, and past the self-inflicted adversity caused by their free-throw shooting.
"His fourth quarter was incredible tonight," Lakers coach Luke Walton said.
In his dazzling performance, Kuzma offered spin moves, behind-the-back passes, timely three-pointers and drew a foul on a three. To the delight of his coaches, his performance was about more than scoring _ though he scored plenty. Kuzma had 28 points, making five of seven three-pointers, with 17 coming in the fourth quarter. He also had three assists and four rebounds. His only flaw _ like other teammates _ was he missed two free throws.
"I just felt like every time I touched it, just trying to score and get in a good rhythm, they went in," Kuzma said of a fourth quarter in which he made his first six shots.
It was an efficient night for Kuzma, who made 10 of 16 shots. That efficiency is something the Lakers hope to see more of from him. In January, Kuzma has had five games in which he's made one-third or fewer of his shots. He hadn't had a 20-point game all month, as he hit a time of year when many rookies find that the NBA's grueling schedule has caught up to them.
Good shot selection is something the Lakers have worked with Kuzma on in the past. It's still a work in progress for the young player.
"It is a fine line with Kuz because we need his scoring and we need his gunslinger mentality but with that comes some bad shots," Walton said.
Walton said the Lakers show Kuzma all of his shots on film and identify the good ones and the bad ones so he can learn the difference. What Walton liked most about Kuzma's performance on Tuesday was that even as he got hot, he made the Celtics pay for overcommitting to him, rather than simply taking contested shots.
"That really demoralizes a defense," Walton said. "When he drives and they come to double him and he throws a pass to Larry (Nance Jr.) for a dunk, that is really winning basketball right there. So it is going to be a constant learning curve.
"There is not a definite answer when you are dealing with someone that plays like Kuz plays because that is part of what makes him so good, is that freedom that we let him play with. But there is responsibility that comes with that and we are on him on his shot selection a lot."
