Game 1 of the first-round series between the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks went about as poorly as possible. Giannis Antetokounmpo was a one-man show against Indiana, with two starters failing to score a single point in an embarrassing 117-98 defeat.
The most noteworthy player to go scoreless against the Pacers has unfortunately become a source of aggravating tendencies on the offensive end of the floor: Kyle Kuzma.
Kuzma was Milwaukee's marquee acquisition at the trade deadline, with the franchise parting with long-time cornerstone Khris Middleton to bring him aboard. The hope in the front office was that Kuzma's well-rounded offensive production would help unlock a new layer of the team's potential.
Unfortunately, the negative tendencies that Kuzma has developed during his NBA career have come back to bite the Bucks on a major stage.
Kuzma takes so many perfectly good shots and turns them into difficult ones for no reason.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) April 19, 2025
Kuzma is an undeniably talented scorer, but his approach to finding the bottom of the net has become harmful to the Bucks' grand ambitions.
Kyle Kuzma goes scoreless for Bucks in nightmare Game 1
It's easy to pick on a player who failed to score a single point during a playoff game, but there's a bigger picture that establishes how dire this situation may be. Kuzma was a questionable fit from the start, as his off-ball play has never been his strong suit.
That issue goes deeper than the numbers, but it's worth noting that he shot 32.0 percent on catch-and-shoot threes in 2024-25 and 33.8 percent in 2022-23.
There have been flashes of near-efficiency, as Kuzma made 35.5 percent of his attempts in 2023-24 and 35.9 percent in 2021-22. Neither figure is particularly elite, but they seemingly display his capacity for borderline dependable shooting.
The unfortunate truth is that he hasn't sustained consistency during his NBA career, as his peaks have rarely proven stable.
The biggest issue facing Kuzma in that regard is that he's struggled to play in a supporting role on offense. Even when shot attempts come his way that he should go right up into, it seems as though the flashier play becomes instinctual for him to make.
It's a phenomenon that has plagued many an isolation scorer, as the proclivity for creativity with the ball in their hands can impede their ability to accept when shots have been created for them.
He thrived individually when trading shot attempts in Washington, but on winning teams that ask him to play in a complementary capacity, he's struggled. That resulted in the Los Angeles Lakers parting with Kuzma just one year after he was a part of a championship-winning effort—during which he played 23.0 minutes per game in the playoffs.
The Bucks acquired Kuzma to play far more than 23.0 minutes per game in the postseason, but if the current trend holds, it will become more difficult by the outing to justify his playing time.