Los Angeles Lakers: Top 10 moments from 2017-18 NBA season

9. Josh Hart drops 30 in season finale

The Los Angeles Lakers absolutely nailed the draft. Lonzo Ball was solid as the starting point guard, improving his defensive intensity and spreading the ball. Kyle Kuzma scored better than anyone would have thought in averaging 16.1 points per game. Josh Hart, the final pick of the first round, was a solid two-way contributor for the Lakers all year.

That vanilla description — “solid two-way contributor” — exploded into exciting upside on the final night of the season. Hart, perhaps emboldened by Villanova’s victory in the national title game, dropped at least 20 points in each of the final four games to the season.

In the season finale against the crosstown Los Angeles Clippers, Hart capped off his season with 30 points, including 7-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Feeling himself, he submitted one of the celebrations of the year, an homage to Fortnite after drilling a 3-pointer.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/984286568843173888

To continue spinning out the accomplishment, Hart’s 30-point night made him the seventh Laker to score 30 this season: Hart, Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Brook Lopez and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope all hit the 30-mark this year. Lower the bar to 29, and both Ball and Isaiah Thomas are added to the list.

Only five players hit that mark last season, and three of those players were not on the team this year (Nick Young, Lou Williams, D’Angelo Russell). Hart was one of six players to hit the mark this year that were not on the team a year ago. This highlights that the Lakers have a high offensive ceiling moving forward, and this season was just the start.