NBA Scores: Kyle Kuzma’s ‘Big Leo Energy’ too much for Luka and the Mavericks

Are you or a loved one experiencing NBA slates with just a few games, including none on national TV? If so, Kyle Kuzma may be right for you. No, really, because he was an icon on the court and then at the mic on Thursday.

All hail Kuzma, who totaled 36 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists in the win. Coming off the court, he told the broadcast’s reporter, “I’ve been telling the coaching staff all year just to run the offense through me, and this was the game to do it [with missing Brad Beal and Kristaps Porzingis], and look what happened.”

The Leo energy, as Kuz put it, followed him into the press room in postgame too:

Luka Doncic finished with 22 points, his lowest point total of the season after 11 games. The loss also marks the first time this season Dallas has lost back-to-back games; they’ve missed 6th Man of the Year candidate Christian Wood (left knee sprain) in both losses.

With the Sixers already off to a rough 5-7 start, Doc Rivers looks primed to be the next coach fired after Steve Nash was scapegoated into oblivion in Brooklyn. And it’s not like Joel Embiid hasn’t been out there averaging 28 and 10 on better than 50% shooting (granted he’s missed four games, but they’re 2-2 in those four as opposed to 3-5 in the others, so...)

Miami seems to love close games, having only played in two games so far that weren’t within single digits at the final buzzer, this one the closest of them all. They led by as much as 15 in regulation and led by 12 going into the fourth, but Jalen McDaniels scored 10 in the fourth for Charlotte to help close the gap; he’d finish with 16/4/4. Hornets just didn’t have enough gas left in the tank in overtime and Miami pulled away.

Jerami Grant, who finished with 27/8/4 and 4 steals, had arguably the play of the night, when he crossed up Zion and left him in a cloud of dust on his way to an authoritative slam.

Also, let’s just take a second to send some praise Portland’s (9-3) way for continuing their winning ways. Winning by double-digits on the road against a good team while missing maybe your two best players in Lillard and Nurkic is a pretty impressive feat. Doing so while playing only eight guys against a team that’s been described as the deepest in basketball? Even more so.

Meanwhile. New Orleans (6-6) had the rare case of all regular starters playing, and they flat out disappointed. Not a single one finished the game as a positive in plus/minus, and the two best shooters in the lineup — McCollum and Ingram — combined to shoot just 3-11 from deep.