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Andrew LopezESPN
NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Pelicans goalkeeper Lonzo Ball is no stranger to exchanging rumors. He spent an entire season with the Los Angeles Lakers hearing about how he could be treated before finally landing with the Pelicans in the summer of 2019. But as Ball tried to make a rough start to the 2020-21 season , his name began to spin once again in the mill of rumors.
To his credit, however, Ball responded with outstanding back-to-back performance. In Wednesday’s Pelicans game against Washington, Ball had nine points and four assists, hitting three triples in the first half while guarding Bradley Beal before turning an ankle and losing ground. second half.
Ball returned to action Friday night and played the best game of the season, winning 131-126 over the Milwaukee Bucks. Ball had a maximum score of 27 points in the season (equaling the maximum in a pelican uniform), equaled a high career level with seven points with three points and had the second best assist of the season with eight.
“I just stay the course,” Ball said when asked if he had any additional motivation this week. “I’ve been playing basketball for a long time. I work hard and I just try to play my game. That’s how I play. I just try to stay away from all the noise and I just go there and try to help my team win games.”
Pelican coach Stan Van Gundy said he spoke to Ball earlier this week about the possibility of playing through noise and playing at a high level.
“Nobody likes fun, but you always have fun,” Van Gundy told reporters on Wednesday. “There are commercial rumors, it’s COVID, it’s family, whatever. Other voices. There are always distractions and a big part of success in this league is that you can block distractions and do your job.”
Pelican basketball executive vice president David Griffin told ESPN New Orleans radio on Thursday that he believes Ball has responded with one of the best innings of the year against the Wizards.
“I think he just realized and compartmentalized his situation, it’s a good thing that people bring your name, because it means you’re coveted by other teams,” Griffin told the radio station.
For Ball, the response meant playing more aggressively, which his coaches and colleagues begged him to do all season.
Pelicans center-back Steven Adams, who had 20 rebounds against the Bucks, said that when Ball plays aggressively and tries to get into the paint and seeks to score, only the entire offense helps.
“He did a very good job of that,” Adams said. “Again, brother, with any player, as a defensive player, if you see someone with that body language, in terms of coming directly to you and that, taking those angles, it forces you to make a pretty drastic decision. .
“It kind of puts you in a difficult area. Instead of being passive, the defense can be like, ‘Oh, sweetie, I can be passive too.’ “Our boys did a good job of taking angles that made it so the defense had to rotate and then we found the open guy there.”
The Pelicans finished with 32 assists in the season, and Adams gave Ball the credit as the spark for the offense on Friday. It also helped the pelicans shoot.
In addition to Ball’s big night, his back field partner Eric Bledsoe also had seven triples. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Ball and Bledsoe became only the fifth starting field in NBA history to hit at least seven triples in the same game, joining Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (three times), James Harden and Eric Gordon, Damon Stoudamire and Nick Van Exel and Michael Dickerson and Cuttino Mobley.
While the movement of the ball was the key to the success of the pelicans on Friday, the willingness to find the right shot also helped. And for Ball, it was about making the shot when it was passed. He was 6-for-9 at 3-point catch-and-shoot, which showed he was willing to take the open look instead of looking to take the extra step.
“We love to see him,” said Pelion striker Zion Williamson. “When he shoots the ball so confidently, even if he misses it, only he shoots with the confidence he walks, that’s what we want Zo to do. He hit seven tonight and they were all great for us.”