Kyle Kuzma says Lakers beating Bucks and Clippers back-to-back was ‘kinda marking our territory’

The Los Angeles Lakers have won quite a few games this season — 49 to be exact — and while each win looks the same in the wins and losses column, there are some wins that just mean more than others. The Lakers got two of their biggest wins of the season in the days that led up to the indefinite suspension of the NBA season.

First, they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-103 after losing to them 111-104 earlier in the season. Then, two days later, they beat their Los Angeles rivals, the Clippers, for the first time in three tries. With wins over the Bucks and Clippers, the Lakers beat the teams with the two best records in the NBA (outside of themselves, of course).

It was arguably the best two-game stretch by any team this season, and the highest point of the Lakers’ season so far — we’re not the only ones that think so, either. During an Instagram Live Q&A with Jared Dudley, Kyle Kuzma said that winning those two games was the highlight of the season for him so far.

“Favorite moment of this year? I think beating Milwaukee and then beating the Clippers back-to-back, that was the highlight of the year. That was fun, super fun. Kinda marking our territory.”

During that tough two-game stretch, Kuzma scored a total of 19 points on 6-19 shooting from the field, including 1-10 shooting from behind the arc. Despite his shooting struggles, he was able to post a defensive rating of 97.1, and a net rating of +6.7

While it’s obviously great that the Lakers were able to win both games without much offensive output from Kuzma, it would be nice to see more from the player many hoped would emerge as the team’s third star going into the season. For the season, Kuzma has averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

Kuzma’s individual performances aside, it’s hard to argue that there’s been a better moment than those two games this season, and it’s hard to imagine there will a better point in the regular season than those two games. Hopefully the next highest point of the season will come when the Lakers beat the Clippers and Bucks back-to-back in the postseason.

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