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

6. Kyle Kuzma leads Lakers to upset of Rockets

Selected late in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft, Kyle Kuzma was a relative unknown in NBA circles. The forward out of Utah was a consensus second-rounder, and when the Los Angeles Lakers picked him at the end of the first, it was a puzzling reach.

Then came Las Vegas Summer League, and Kuzma spat fire to lead the Lakers to the title. He continued firing away in preseason, and through the first two weeks of the season. Then he had a coming out party.

Kuzma broke out to the tune of 38 points, seven rebounds and four assists. He lit bomb after bomb and chucked it into the basket, dropping in seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts. Houston tried initially to defend him with Ryan Anderson, and the rookie stole Anderson’s lunch money. Anderson finished a game-low -22 in his 25 minutes.

If the overtime loss to the Warriors announced that the Lakers were on the rise, beating the Rockets by six in Houston cemented it. James Harden dropped 51 points and it wasn’t enough as Kuzma led the Lakers to victory.