Kyle Kuzma was absolutely clinical in the Wizards’ 124-121 win over the Hornets, dropping 36 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists.
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The Charlotte Hornets were hosted by Kyle Kuzma and his Washington Wizards at the Captial One Arena. It was an action-packed thriller between the 7th and 8th seeded teams of the Eastern Conference. And after 11 lead changes and 6 ties with the contest going down to the wire, it was Wes Unseld Jr’s. boys who grabbed a huge 124-121 win.
It was a huge night for the Hornets’ trio of Gordon Hayward, Miles Bridges, and Terry Rozier. The three of them combined for 75 of the team’s points and dished out 11 assists while hitting 30 out of the 50 total field goals. However, their fantastic performance was eclipsed by the heroics of Kuzma.
Kyle Kuzma WENT CRAZY in the win over the Hornets 🤟 @kylekuzma
36 PTS (season-high)
13/26 FG
6/11 3PT
14 REB
6 ASTHis 3rd straight game with 25+ PTS 🔥 (via @WashWizards)pic.twitter.com/MSUqRPZdib
— Overtime (@overtime) January 4, 2022
Playing nearly 41 minutes, Kyle dropped a season-high 36 points (just 5 shy of his career-best), grabbed 14 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists. Steeping up as the team’s secondary playmaker, only to Bradley Beal, Kuz was visibly more aggressive in attacking the rim. And that is exactly what he spoke about in his postgame interview.
“I’m just being really aggressive,” Kuzma said. “I just put my head down and try to get to the rim, take an open 3 if it’s there. If not, not try to settle.”
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Kyle Kuzma joins Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal as the 3rd player in Wizards history to achieve a special feat
The former Laker now joins Beal and Westbrook as only the 3rd player in franchise history to record 30/10/5 with 5+ threes drilled in a single game.
Kyle Kuzma tonight:
36 PTS
14 REB
6 AST
6 3PTHe joins Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook as the only Wizards ever with 30/10/5 and 5+ threes in a game. pic.twitter.com/B8shj68eJc
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 4, 2022
NBA Twitter erupted with reactions as soon as the stats went viral.
Playing in the East and less attention seems to have helped Kuz
— asb68 (@Sizzle_55) January 4, 2022
This man owns your favourite team pic.twitter.com/xShfTfKyu7
— aetrnal (@LandryShametAlt) January 4, 2022
LeGM fumbled on this one
— Rocc💕💥💫 (@RookieRocc) January 4, 2022
Popular statistic Twitter page “StatMuse” kept track of Washington’s losing record ever since Kuzma wore the infamous abnormally oversized pink sweater.
The Wizards are 4-10 since this outfit.
They have lost 7 straight games to teams not named the Pistons.
If they keep losing, we’ll make more Wizards players wear the outfit. pic.twitter.com/kRZS61Zzzj
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 17, 2021
After his performance, the 26-year-old decided to call them out.
Nah bruh put that pink sweater on keep that same energy lol https://t.co/VQl1Ryj8wU
— kuz (@kylekuzma) January 4, 2022
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The 6-foot-10 forward has now recorded 3 straight 25-point games. During this 3-game period, he has been averaging 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. Overall, the 2020 champ has been a great acquisition for the organization averaging 14.5/8.3/2.9 so far this season.
