The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t receive promising news on Monday afternoon. The team learned that rookie Lonzo Ball wouldn’t be able to participate in the NBA Summer League championship game against the Portland Trail Blazers due to a calf strain.
Fortunately, even without the Summer League MVP on the floor, the Lakers were able to prevail against a talented Blazers squad at the Thomas & Mack Center. Fellow rookie Kyle Kuzma was the main reason for the team’s success on Monday with the Utah product exploding for 30 points and 10 rebounds.
Along with earning MVP honors for the game, Kuzma had plenty of highlights against Portland as you can see below courtesy of the Lakers Twitter account:
HIGHLIGHTS: Kyle Kuzma finishes with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and a nice piece of hardware as the Championship Game MVP #LakersSummer pic.twitter.com/39ZzuU2mVc
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 18, 2017
Kuzma wasn’t the only one picking up the slack for the injured Ball as sharpshooter Matt Thomas also put in the work during the championship game. Thomas finished with 23 points and went a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc, via Lakers Twitter account:
HIGHLIGHTS: Matt Thomas follows his strong semifinals performance by going 5-5 from deep with 23 total points in tonight's win #LakersSummer pic.twitter.com/3hIWJs7QWQ
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 18, 2017
Here’s a compilation of the highlights of the NBA Summer League championship in which Los Angeles came out on top, 110-98:
HIGHLIGHTS: Lakers defeat the Trail Blazers 110-98 to claim the Summer League Championship after their sixth straight win #LakersSummer pic.twitter.com/Ymx3ePkcBK
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 18, 2017
With Summer League wrapping up for Los Angeles, the next time the team will take the floor with these young players and the returning veterans will be Sept. 30 in their first preseason game. Los Angeles will go head-to-head against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Honda Center.