Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma could make season debut Friday against Mavericks

Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma, who had a second straight good workout on Wednesday, will be monitored by the team after Thursday’s practice to see how his health is before a decision is made on whether he’ll play Friday night at the Dallas Mavericks, according to people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Kuzma, who has been out all season with a stress reaction in his left ankle, was assigned to the South Bay Lakers to practice with the team on a rehabilitation assignment on Wednesday.

Kuzma was going to rejoin the Lakers, who had Wednesday off, after the session with the South Bay Lakers.

The Lakers hope that Kuzma doesn’t have any setbacks after the practices before they leave for a three-game trip to Dallas, San Antonio and Chicago, and that the forward can play in one of those games.

Kuzma “had a good day” Tuesday during a three-on-three full-court session before the Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night at Staples Center.

He averaged 18.7 points on 45.6% shooting, 30.3% from three-point range, and 5.5 rebounds last season in 70 games.

LeBron James has good game

On a night when Anthony Davis put on a virtuoso performance on a stage that was Staples Center, it was somehow easy to overlook another masterpiece from LeBron James at the same venue.

For James, Tuesday really was more than just about the 23 points and eight rebounds he produced in just 28 minutes and 19 seconds during the Lakers’ easy win over Memphis. It was also about how much he fun had on the bench interacting with the fans during the blowout and his involvement with the community during another fire in the Los Angeles area.

But like everyone else from the game, James was praising Davis after his 40-point and 20-rebound domination. Davis had become the first Laker to have at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Shaquille O’Neal had 48 points and 20 rebounds against Boston on March 21, 2003.

Lakers

LeBron James seeks normalcy after family fled Getty fire

LeBron James and his family drove around for hours looking for a place to stay after evacuating their home near the Getty fire. Now, they seek normalcy.

Oct. 29, 2019

Davis was brilliant while playing with a sore right shoulder that didn’t seem to inhibit him one bit.

“I don’t even think he’s scratched the surface yet,” James said late Tuesday night. “I think we’re all still getting comfortable with one another. I think he’s still getting comfortable on the floor. But when he’s attacking like that, when a guy shoots high in the 80s, 90s, from the free-throw line, that’s easy money for him, and that’s great for our defense as well. It’s great for our team to settle a game down like that. So he was wonderful tonight, spectacular in all facets both offensively and defensively, and we needed it.”

James began Tuesday by sending a taco truck to first responders fighting the Getty Fire.

And then during the game, James danced along while the fans chanted “Taco Tuesday” towards him.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti responded to James’ gesture on Twitter, saying, “Thank you, @KingJames, for generously sending a taco truck to support our @LAFD firefighters, first responders, and partner agencies working to fight the #GettyFire.”

James, who had to be evacuated from his Brentwood home because of the fire, explained his decision to send the taco truck.

“It was thought about early this (Tuesday) morning when I kind of woke up and knowing the situation that they’ve been going through the last few days, knowing today is ‘Taco Tuesday’, knowing today is the anniversary of my first game (with Cleveland on Oct. 29, 2003) and we had another game tonight, so everything kind of lined up and was just giving my respect and understanding how important they are to this whole situation,” James said. “In order to be at your best, you have to have fuel. And food is a part of fuel. So tacos always wins.”