Kyle Kuzma credited Cleveland fans for his fourth-quarter 3-point eruption in the Wizards’ comeback road win over the Cavaliers on Wednesday.
Kuzma made four 3-pointers in the fourth, including the game-winner in the contest’s final seconds, to bring the Wizards back from down 10 for the 97-94 victory.
Kuzma said the Cavaliers fans who had heckled him during the game motivated him to get hot down the stretch.
“I’m ready for those moments,” Kuzma said about the big shot. “Plus, there were some hecklers during the game talking to me. I had to. It was their fault, really.”
One of the fans had a sign that read: “LeBron won Kuzma his ring.” The jab was in reference to the 2019-20 NBA champion Lakers team, of which Kuzma was a member, that was led by LeBron James.
“They had a sign up that said, ‘LeBron won Kuzma his ring,’” Kuzma said. “So I said, ‘Without LeBron, Cleveland wouldn’t be s—-.’ They chose violence, and I just kept going.”
In fairness to the fan’s sign, James did score 29.8 points per game in the 2019-20 NBA Finals against the Heat — shooting an incredible 59% from the floor and 41% from behind the arc — with 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists, while Kuzma scored 8.5 points on 35% shooting.
Kuzma scored 22 points and was 6 of 9 from behind the arc in the win Wednesday that improved the Wizards to 8-3 and propelled the team to first place in the Eastern Conference.
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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