Wizards' Kyle Kuzma makes 'punched in the face' admission after ugly loss to Pistons
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Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma had one of his best performances of the season thus far against the Detroit Pistons, but it wasn’t enough to keep the game close. The Wizards lost 124-104 at home, and the former NBA champion wasn’t pleased.
Kuzma didn’t hold back in the postgame presser, via Monumental Sports Network’s Chase Hughes.
Kyle Kuzma's full postgame media availability.
He said the Wizards have had issues with physical teams like the Pistons and he believes their defense needs to be much better. pic.twitter.com/CHaFr4xrG8
— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) November 18, 2024
“They did a good job of being physical with us,” the 29-year-old said. “That’s kind of one of our bigger problems, when we play a physical team they kind of punch us in the face and we don’t really react to it.”
Washington’s tendency this year is to play well in spurts, but not consistently, and that continued on Sunday night.
“We never had a lead, but we had a nice time in the second quarter, we got it to five,” Kuzma said. “Me, Malc[om Brogdon], and Jonas [Valanciunas] had some pretty good synergy out there, then we just lost it.”
The Wizards got gashed defensively and on the boards, as Pistons star Cade Cunningham recorded his fourth triple-double of the season, while Jaden Ivey and Malik Beasley had 28 and 26 points, respectively. Detroit also out-rebounded Washington 51-39.
“This is gonna be the result every night if we don’t play defense. It’s gonna be a long season,” Kuzma admitted. “We’ve said that many many times, it starts on the ball, it starts on rebounding. A lot of times, we get punked out of rebounds the past three, four games and teams get second-chance points…It’s really about the decision you wanna make, if you decide you wanna get punked around.”
While this eight-game losing streak has been difficult for the Wizards, there is a silver lining.
Malcolm Brogdon’s return provides more veteran leadership for Wizards
Brogdon made his Wizards debut on Sunday after missing the start of the season due to thumb surgery. While the former Milwaukee Buck had just one point on 0-of-4 shooting with two rebounds across 22 minutes off the bench, his presence on the floor provides a young Washington team with vital experience and leadership.
“He’s just a player that knows how to play basketball,” Kuzma continued. “He’s played in the league a long time, so the more people you can have that have some experience, that’s gonna help us.”
Brogdon was in good spirits after the game, via NBA.com.
“I feel good, man. I’ve been working,” the ninth-year veteran said. “I’ve been conditioning hard, dropped a little bit of weight, my wind felt good. A few games will be about rhythm, then I’ll be good.”
At 31 years old, Brogdon is an elder statesman on a Washington roster that ranks seventh-youngest in the NBA with an average age of 25.46, via NBA.com. The Virginia alum should be a reliable “three-and-D” player once he’s at full-strength, as he averages 15.4 points on 46.4% shooting (39% 3pt) across his career.
“I thought it was solid,” Brogdon said of his debut. ” I’m a guy, even when I’m back at full speed, I’m never gonna force shots.” Especially when I’m coming back for the first game, I’m gonna keep my shots at a minimum. Feel the game out, and try to make plays to win the game. Not worry about stats, none of that. That’s what I did today, of course I’m gonna make shots going forward, but I was just glad to be back out there.”
The 2023 NBA Sixth Man of the Year will get another chance to get back up to speed on Monday night against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in what will be one of the Wizards’ biggest tests of the season thus far.
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