Former Ute Kyle Kuzma Back After Missing Two Games With Back Injury

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After missing two games with a back injury, former Ute Kyle Kuzma is back in the lineup for the Lakers just before they come to Salt Lake City to play the Utah Jazz.

Damian Lillard’s scoring dipped a little bit during the week but is creating more for his teammates. He had a double-double against Houston while dishing out eight assists or more in each game.

Former Lone Peak star Frank Jackson scored a career-high 17 points to help the Pelicans beat the Memphis Grizzlies.

Here’s how the locals did during Week 12 of the NBA season from January 2 to January 8:

Former Utes

Kyle Kuzma – Los Angeles Lakers (22-19)

The Lakers went 1-3 during the week LeBron James continues to sit out with a groin injury. Kyle Kuzma left the game against Oklahoma City Thunder with a back injury after recording four points and three steals in 16 minutes.

The former Ute didn’t play the next two games in losses to New York and Minnesota. He returned to the lineup in their road win against the Dallas Mavericks and dropped 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, he struggled shooting the ball, hitting just 4 of his 20 field goal attempts.

This season, Kuzma is averaging 18.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

NEXT UP: The Lakers have four games during Week 13, starting at home against Detroit before traveling to Utah. They will finish the week at home against Cleveland and Chicago.

Kuz showing off the skill set pic.twitter.com/ADETR5KdbS

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 8, 2019

Jakob Poeltl – San Antonio Spurs (24-17)

It was a great week for the Spurs, going 3-0. The former Ute had two points and seven rebounds against Toronto in just 13 minutes.

He finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds against Memphis and scored 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds against Detroit.

Poeltl is averaging 5.9 points and 5.2 rebounds this season.

NEXT UP: The Spurs will play four games during Week 13, beginning at Memphis before hosting Oklahoma City. They will travel to Oklahoma City and will host Charlotte.

Spoon fed 🥄

DeMar ➡️ Jakob pic.twitter.com/jklTrMdLq3

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 6, 2019

Delon Wright – Toronto Raptors (31-12)

Toronto won three of their four games during Week 12. Delon Wright started the week with a 15-point, 4-rebound performance in their loss to the San Antonio Spurs, he shot 5-of-9 from the field.

In the Raptors’ win over the Bucks, Wright played just 14 minutes while recording 2 assists and 1 rebound while shooting 0-of-4 from the field.

Wright bounced back against the Indiana Pacers with 10 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 25 minutes.

He ended the week with 4 points and 5 assists in just 16 minutes in the win over Atlanta. The former Ute is averaging 6.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this season.

NEXT UP: Toronto has two games during Week 13 beginning at home against Brooklyn before traveling to Washington.

Savage trickery pic.twitter.com/2qQydVHYY5

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 7, 2019

Former Wildcats

Damian Lillard – Portland Trail Blazers (24-17)

The Trail Blazers went 2-1 during Week 12. Damian Lillard led the team with 23 points in their two-point loss to Oklahoma City.

He had 17 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds in their win against Houston. Lillard ended the week with 17 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds in the Blazers’ win over the Knicks.

The former Wildcat is averaging 26.2 points, 6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game this season.

NEXT UP: Portland will play four games during Week 13, starting at home against Chicago and Charlotte before traveling to Denver and Sacramento.

If at first you don’t succeed… pic.twitter.com/bd5eIUlLaS

— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 8, 2019

Former High School Standouts

Frank Jackson – New Orleans Pelicans (19-22)

The former Lone Peak star had his best game in the NBA at the end of the week with a career-high 17 points in 19 minutes on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown.

He played just five minutes at the beginning of the week and had one rebound in their loss to Brooklyn. Jackson followed up with six points, five rebounds and three assists in their dominating win over Cleveland.

Jackson is averaging 4.7 points per game this season.

NEXT UP: The Pelicans will play three games during Week 13, beginning at home against Cleveland before playing Minnesota and the Clippers on the road.

The @PelicansNBA rookie Frank Jackson (@FWJackson15) poured in an early career-high 17 points & added a highlight-reel dime last night!

The @DukeMBB product averaged 26.8 points on assignment with the @TexasLegends earlier this season. #GLeagueAlum pic.twitter.com/9Jzrnsz4dQ

— NBA G League (@nbagleague) January 8, 2019