Kuzma has basically been on the cold bench before, and Ding Yanyuhang has occasionally been recalled but has never been on the activation list, which is an opportunity for them.

If Kuzma plays a characteristic in the coming week, he will get a lot of opportunities to play in the second half of the season, but if he can't, then this opportunity will come to Ding Yanyuhang.

In the first game Tucker missed, the Nets traveled to take on the Lakers.

The Lakers have been in a slump since Kobe Bryant's departure, and this season is mainly about training newcomers, with Ball, Ingram, and Randle all core players cultivated by the team.

It is worth mentioning that Walton, the current head coach of the Lakers, is also Tang Tian's former assistant coach.

In fact, there is not much suspense about the outcome of the game, Tang Tian and Cole laughed and chatted on the technical table before the game, and they also seemed very relaxed.

The game started very quickly, with both teams in the regular starting lineups.

On the Nets' side, Irving, Butler, George, Yi Jianlian and Jokic.

On the Lakers' side, Ball and Pope on the outside, Ingram and Randle on the front, and Brook Lopez at center, who was just traded in the offseason.

On paper, the Nets won a lot, but after the game started, this wave of young players of the Lakers did not play badly.

At the end of the first quarter, the score on the court was 21-29, and the Lakers only trailed by 8 points.

Such a performance satisfied the fans in the stadium, and the Lakers even had a chance to win.

Coming up in the second quarter, both sides went into the rotation, with Pope on the Lakers' side bringing Caruso, Hart, Frye and Zubac.

The Nets, on their side, have all five benches, Rondo and Mitchell on the outside, Kuzma and Markkanen on the outside, and Oden at center.

Caruso carries the ball to the front court.

Pope didn't get rid of the pick-up and didn't get rid of it completely, but after receiving the ball, he shot directly against Markkanen's defense.

Markkanen is tall and has long arms, which gives him a lot of interference.

"Bang!"

Pope's shot was deflected wide after being disrupted.

Oden easily pressed Zubac to pick up the rebound.

Rondo dribbles to the frontcourt, and the Nets' tactical movement in the frontcourt.

Wharton followed Tang Tian for a year and Kerr for another two years, and the level was still there, and after the Lakers switched to defense, the focus was on pinching Mitchell and not giving him the opportunity to easily catch the ball by covering.

Rondo saw that there was no chance on that side, so he made a block for Markkanen, and after the breakout, Markkanen got a chance on the outside.

"Bang!"

However, he didn't take advantage of the opportunity and jumped out of the three-point basket.

Hart grabbed the defensive long rebound, and the Lakers wanted to push the fast break, but Kuzma stretched out his long arm to block Hart's sight at this time, and the Lakers' pass couldn't get out, and the fast break didn't start.

Caruso went to the frontcourt to organize again, and the Lakers couldn't get any chance to run back and forth.

The Nets' system of basketball is not only in the starters, but also in the bench, which is a style of play that runs through the entire team.

The ball finally got into Pop's hand, and Pope shook Kuzma with the ball, and then went straight inside.

Kuzma's center of gravity tightened quickly, didn't shake, and basically walked in with Pope.

Pope makes a one-step stop throw to the free throw line.

Kuzma gave up the confrontation, and Pope was disturbed and dodged in the air before making a move.

"Bang!"

This gave Oden a chance, he stepped out of the inside line and slapped the fan out of the air.

Pope's label is 3D, and he played very well in the Pistons at the beginning, but when it came to the Lakers, because the Lakers didn't have many ball points, he was forced to do it, and the result was not too surprising.

Tang Tian nodded with satisfaction at this time, it was not Oden's block, this kind of opportunity Oden should have been seized, but Kuzma's defense.

Whether it's interfering with Hart's pass or putting pressure on Pope in defence, the details are handled well.

This is also the characteristic of older rookies, the upper limit may not be very good, but the lower limit will not be low, and Kuzma's height and reach, including speed, are better in the front line.

The Lakers' sideline ball, Caruso's strong layup after blocking and dismantling was interfered with by Markkanen's long arm and did not score.

Rondo carried the ball to the frontcourt, and Mitchell was still heavily targeted, but at that moment, Kuzma took advantage of Oden's block to go around beyond the three-point line.

Rondo caught a glimpse of the ball and passed the ball straight into Kuzma's hands.

Zubac saw Kuzma raise his hand from beyond the three-point line and turned straight to grab a defensive rebound.

Kuzma saw it and dribbled to the three-point line.

"Huh!"

Steady progress into the frame at mid-range.

Wharton rushed to the sideline and cursed, much to Zubac's annoyance.

However, relying on Zubac's foil, it reflects the high point of Kuzma's playing quotient.

Tang Tian was even more satisfied at this time.

This Kuzma, if he can continue to play like this, he can consider trading Tucker away next season.

Just thinking about it, Kuzma was tricked into a three-point shooting foul by Frye on the defensive end.

After all, he is a rookie, and he is still a little inferior in defensive experience.

Frye hit two of three free throws, and although he was at the bottom of the game, the Lakers did not fall behind in the score.

Rondo's frontcourt command, he didn't bother looking for Mitchell this time, but signaled the two-line block on both wings.

Mitchell cut to the basket on the other side and ran for a three-pointer on the other side, and his run took much of the Lakers' defensive attention as Kuzma crossed the baseline to the bottom corner.

Rondo looked at Mitchell and flicked the ball towards Kuzma in the bottom corner.

Kuzma had a good three-point chance, and Zubac made a save, but stopped halfway through the save to seal Kuzma's mid-range.

However, Kuzma glanced at the basket and directly pulled it up and threw it.

"Huh!"

With a crisp sound, Kuzma's outside three-pointer hit again.

He has scored 5 points in a row in these two rounds!

Although his experience on the defensive end needs to be improved, his performance in this segment proves that he is more than capable of playing the role of the Nets' 12th, or even 11th.

Wharton reached out and called a timeout.

At this time, the Lakers general manager "Magic" Johnson, who was sitting in the audience, shook his head helplessly.

The Lakers had already targeted Kuzma in last year's draft, and even they had the information that Kuzma practiced three-point shooting, but unfortunately he was cut off by the Nets in advance, and now looking at Kuzma's performance, he can only envy it.

But this is also the Nets, not to mention the starters, the bench strength and the Lakers may not lose a series of games.

Kuzma's consecutive shots forced the Lakers to focus on his defense, but after Mitchell's defensive pressure was reduced, even the Lakers who shot suddenly missed the other.

In the end, the Nets only played three quarters and beat the Lakers 106-87.

Irving, Butler and George all contributed 15+ points in a limited amount of time, Mitchell scored a team-high 18 points, and Kuzma entered the rotation for the first time, finishing with 10 points and three rebounds on 4-of-7 shooting.