Kyle Kuzma's big fourth quarter helped propel the Washington Wizards to a 97-94 victory over the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Wednesday night. Kuzma connected on four 3-pointers in the final quarter, including the go-ahead basket in the waning seconds of the game.
In all, Kuzma had 22 points and five rebounds against the Cavs and the win lifted Washington to an impressive 8-3 on the season. In addition to his productive play, Kuzma also found time to talk some trash to Cavs fans with a sign that said "LeBron won Kuzma his ring." After the game, Kuzma admitted that the jeers of those fans provided him with a bit of added motivation.
"There was some hecklers during the game talking to me," Kuzma said. "... They had a sign that said 'LeBron won Kuzma his ring.' I said 'without LeBron, Cleveland wouldn't be sh--.' They choose violence, I just kept going. They were talking too much. Unnecessary."
Kuzma isn't the first NBA player to take a shot at Cleveland, and on Wednesday night he was able to back up his trash talk with some solid play. Kuzma and the Wizards have been one of the early surprises of the NBA season. Despite modest preseason expectations, Washington currently sits at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, and they have been getting solid contributions from up and down the roster. They'll obviously have to keep it up for the duration of the campaign, but the early returns have been promising, at least.