Saturday was a bad day for the Milwaukee Bucks. It was even more so for forward Kyle Kuzma.
The Bucks opened the NBA playoff schedule with a 117-98 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Kuzma had one of the worst individual playoff performances in league history in the losing effort.
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Kuzma started and played 21 minutes for a Bucks team playing shorthanded without All-Star Damian Lillard. He failed to record a single counting stat.
Here’s Kuzma’s line for the game:
0-5 from the field
0-2 from 3
0-2 from the FT line
0 points
0 rebounds
0 assists
0 steals
0 blocks
0 turnovers
It added up to a game-worst -24 in the plus/minus column and a brutal day for the eighth-year NBA veteran making his first playoff appearance for the Bucks since joining them in the midseason trade that sent Khris Middleton to the Wizards. At least he didn’t turn the ball over.
Kyle Kuzma, left, had a rough Saturday against the Pacers. (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
Kuzma’s place in ignominious playoff history
Per multiple accounts, Kuzma is only the sixth player in NBA history to record zero counting stats while playing 20 or more minutes in a playoff game. Mike Dunleavy Jr. (2015), Bruce Bowen (2008), Brent Barry (2005), Michael Cage (1993) and Maurice Lucas (1986) are the others.
Barry edges out Kuzma for the most playoff minutes played without a recorded contribution in a 22:12 appearance for the San Antonio Spurs against the Seattle SuperSonics in 2005.
But unlike Kuzma’s Bucks, Barry’s Spurs won that day.
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And unfortunately for Kuzma, his effort continues a season-long trend. By one statistical measure, Kuzma was one the worst players in the NBA regular season.
Kuzma finished the season with -0.024 win shares per 48 minutes, which ranks 519th out of all NBA players and 179th out of 179 players to play enough minutes to qualify for the stat on Basketball Reference.
The good news for the Bucks is that Lillard is expected to return for Game 2 or Game 3 of the series from the deep vein thrombosis that’s sidelined him since March 18. But head coach Doc Rivers may need to adjust how he deploys Kuzma for the rest of the series.
