Kyle Kuzma plays one of the worst games in playoff
Saturday was a bad day for the Milwaukee Bucks. It was a lot more so for forward Kyle Kuzma.The Bucks opened the NBA playoff schedule with a 117-98 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Kuzma had among the worst specific playoff performances in league history in the losing effort.Advertisement Kuzma began and played 21 minutes for a Bucks
group playing shorthanded without All-Star Damian Lillard. He failed to tape-record a single counting stat.Here’s Kuzma’s line for the game:0 -5 from the field 0-2 from 3 0-2 from the feet line 0 points 0 rebounds 0 helps 0 steals 0 blocks 0 turnovers It added up
to a game-worst -24 in the plus/minus column and a brutal day for the eighth-year NBA veteran making his first playoff appearance for the Bucks since joining them in the midseason trade that sent Khris Middleton to the Wizards. At least he didn’t turn the ball over. Kyle Kuzma, left, had a rough Saturday versus the Pacers.(Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)(IMAGN IMAGES by means of Reuters Link/ Reuters)Kuzma’s location in ignominious playoff history Per numerous accounts, Kuzma is
just the sixth player in NBA history to tape no counting statistics while playing 20 or more minutes in a championship game. Mike Dunleavy Jr. (2015), Bruce Bowen (2008)
, Brent Barry(2005 ), Michael Cage(1993) and Maurice Lucas(1986)are the others.Barry edges out Kuzma for the most playoff minutes played without a taped contribution in a 22:12 look for the San Antonio Spurs against the Seattle SuperSonics in 2005. However unlike Kuzma’s Bucks, Barry’s Spurs won that day.Advertisement And sadly for Kuzma, his effort continues a season-long
trend. By one statistical step, Kuzma was one the worst players in the NBA regular season.Kuzma finished the season with -0.024 win shares per 48 minutes, which ranks 519th out of all NBA players and 179th out of 179 players to play sufficient minutes to receive the stat on Basketball Reference.The great news for the Bucks
is that Lillard is anticipated to return for Game 2 or Game 3 of the series from the deep vein thrombosis that’s sidelined him because March 18. However head coach Doc Rivers may require to adjust how he deploys Kuzma for the rest of the series.