Lonzo Ball had an ugly NBA debut on Thursday night, scoring just three points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field (and 0-for-2 at the line) in the Lakers’ 108-92 loss to the Clippers. Patrick Beverley was just about the worst player for Ball to go up against in his first NBA game, and bullied the rookie.
24 hours later, Ball had a much, much better performance.
Ball finished just one assist shy of a triple-double with a 29-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist line in the Lakers’ 132-130 win over the Suns.
Now, Phoenix’s defense isn’t exactly a good unit (this is putting it nicely). They finished dead-last in points allowed per game last season (113.3… my goodness), and it doesn’t appear things will get too much better on that front in the 2017-18 campaign. I mean, look at this “defense” in a six-point game with under two minutes left:
The sea parted for Lonzo Ball in Phoenix pic.twitter.com/8vD9U2h3Hq
— Silver Screen and Roll (@LakersSBN) October 21, 2017
But it really was an impressive all-around performance by the 19-year-old point guard. Ball hit 4-of-9 three-point attempts (an area of his game that has been drawn plenty of skepticism) and was 12-of-27 from the field. There’s never been much doubt about his passing skills and ability to create scoring opportunities for his teammates, and he certainly showed that off against the Suns.
https://twitter.com/SouthBayMo/status/921573856141230080
If LaVar Ball was raving about Lonzo’s NBA debut, we don’t even know want to know what he’s been saying about this actually good peformance from his son on Friday night.
