Kyle Kuzma offered insights into his expanded role after the Milwaukee Bucks fell 139-122 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“Cramps. Yeah, just cramps. That’s all,” Kuzma said, adding that he felt fine despite leaving briefly.
The forward highlighted his increased responsibilities in playmaking. “I haven’t really had too many reps at that as I did today like picking rolls, getting downhill and stuff, but I’m very comfortable doing that,” Kuzma said.
Kuzma praised team ball movement, noting, “The ball moved great today. If you look at everybody’s scoring, it was a lot of guys in double digits.” He described slowing his pace in the half-court and learning to see the game from a downhill, playmaking perspective.
Defensive struggles remained a concern for Milwaukee. “Our problem is just the defensive end, something that we can just learn from, work on,” Kuzma said, referencing 14-15 offensive rebounds allowed to Philadelphia. “They’re a team that probably averages in the lower 20s of offensive rebounds. We just let them kick our butts,” he added.
Kuzma noted adjustments made after halftime helped briefly, but the Bucks couldn’t maintain momentum. “We came in at halftime and made some adjustments and we kind of stopped that a little bit at the first seven, eight minutes of the third, and then they just got right back to it,” he said.
He also discussed his synergy with Myles Turner, who scored a season-high 31 points. “He was a big reason why I had the amount of assists I really had, just being someone that can stretch the floor and get him involved,” Kuzma said. “Me and him have some pretty good synergy picking rolls from half-court, and knowing he’s going to be there.”
Philadelphia was led by Paul George’s 32 points, Joel Embiid’s 29 points and nine rebounds, and Tyrese Maxey’s 22 points. George hit consecutive threes early in the fourth quarter to extend an 11-point lead, while Embiid and Maxey connected for an alley-oop dunk late in the first half.
The Bucks, missing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Porter Jr., struggled despite strong individual performances from Turner, Ryan Rollins, and Bobby Portis. Milwaukee will visit Washington on Thursday, while the 76ers host Sacramento.
