Kyle Kuzma had a one-track mind set once the game went to overtime.
“Just to kill,” he said after dropping 30 points on San Antonio. “I didn’t want to lose that game. We have been losing for the past couple of games, so I just tried to kill.”
Kuzma and his teammates did just that, overwhelming Spurs by outscoring them 14-4 in the overtime period.
While Kuzma led the offensive end, it was Josh Hart — who missed the potentially game-winning layup at the end of regulation — who made the most plays defensively during the extra five minutes.
Kuzma wasted little time getting into his killer mentality, as he struck on the Lakers’ first possession of overtime.
He ran up to set a pick for Hart, but then slipped to the 3-point line. Danny Green (one of the NBA’s best defenders) tried to recover, but Kuzma’s quick-trigger release allowed him to get a clean look on his fifth 3-pointer of the night.
Then it was time for Kuzma to put his ball handling on display.
Ivica Zubac (who had six screen assists on the night) set a solid pick on Green, giving Kuzma a runway to the hoop. With LaMarcus Aldridge protecting the rim, Kuzma opted for one of his trademark shots, and struck with a sweeping hook on the run.
With Kuzma putting the Lakers ahead by five early in OT, the Spurs began feeding Aldridge, who dropped 28 points on the night and has led the league in scoring over the last 10 games.
But the Lakers weren’t going to let him beat them, doubling Aldridge every time he touched the ball in overtime.
And it wasn’t just the initial pressure that made the strategy work. After swarming Aldridge and forcing him to give up the ball, they instantly returned to their original assignments, not allowing San Antonio to take advantage of leaving a man open.
The three possessions that the Spurs posted up Aldridge ended with a missed 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock, a stolen pass and a charge called. In five minutes of overtime, Aldridge did not even attempt a shot.
Hart was exceptional in this area. With three minutes left, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope abandoned his man to double Aldridge, and Hart knew what the big man was going to do next.
Hart left his own assignment to cover Caldwell-Pope’s. When Aldridge tried to locate the Spur left open by the double team, he guessed wrong, as Hart had rotated over to poke the pass away, sparking a fast-break that led to his own free throws.
And when the Spurs desperately needed a bucket down by four with 1:30 left, Hart was there to get the ball out of Aldridge’s hands.
Initially, he was the one to double-team the All-Star. After Aldridge gave up the ball, he rushed back to cover the open man.
(You’ll notice how seamlessly the Lakers switched their marks after the double team. The play started with the matchups being Hart-Patty Mills, Kuzma-Rudy Gay and Tyler Ennis-Dejounte Murray. But it ended with Hart-Murray, Kuzma-Mills and Ennis-Gay).
When Gay drove into the open lane, Hart reacted immediately, setting up for a charge that ends a vital possession for San Antonio.
With Hart’s defense keeping the Spurs at bay, the Lakers only needed one more dagger to secure their first season sweep over San Antonio in 20 years.
L.A. had just the play for that. The visitors had trouble tracking Caldwell-Pope off screens all night long. A good route-runner, KCP scored 21 points largely by navigating a maze of picks or by bolting the opposite direction when the Spurs tried to guess his path.
This time Kuzma set a strong screen for Caldwell-Pope, forcing the Spurs to switch defenders. Zubac had one more pick waiting after the hand-off, giving KCP just enough room to strike from the top of the arc, sealing victory for the Lakers.
