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Andrew LopezESPN
NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball is familiar with the rumors. He spent an entire season with the Los Angeles Lakers hearing about how he could be treated before he finally landed with the Pelicans in the summer of 2019. But as Ball tried to navigate a rough start to the 2020-21 season, his name began to swirl in the rumor once again.
To his credit, however, Ball responded with consecutive outstanding performances. In the Pelicans’ game on Wednesday against Washington, Ball had nine points and four assists by hitting three points out of 3 in the first half while defending Bradley Beal before rolling an ankle and missing the second half.
Ball returned to action on Friday night and played his best game of the season in the 131-126 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. Ball had the season’s record of 27 points (tying his record in a Pelicans uniform), matched a career record with seven points out of 3 and had his second best assisted assist of the season with eight.
“I just keep going,” Ball said when asked if he had any extra motivation this week. “I’ve been playing basketball for a long time. I put in a lot of work and just try to play my game. That’s how I play. I just try to get away from all the noise and go over there and try to help my team win games.”
Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said he spoke to Ball earlier this week about being able to play through noise and at a high level.
“Nobody likes distractions, but you have distractions all the time,” Van Gundy told reporters on Wednesday. “These are trade rumors, it’s COVID, it’s family, whatever. Other voices. There are always distractions, and a big part of the success in this league is being able to block out the distractions and do your job.”
Pelicans’ executive vice president of basketball operations, David Griffin, said on ESPN radio in New Orleans on Thursday that he thought Ball responded with one of his best halves of the year against the Wizards.
“I think he just realized and shared the situation he is in, it is a good thing that people mention your name because it means that you are coveted by other teams,” Griffin told the radio station.
For Ball, the answer meant playing more aggressively, something his coaches and teammates have been pleading with him to do throughout the season.
Pelican center Steven Adams, who had 20 rebounds against the Bucks, said that when Ball is playing aggressively and trying to get in the front line to score, it helps the entire attack.
“He did a great job at that,” said Adams. “Again, bro, with any player, as a defender, if you see someone with that body language, in the sense of coming right in your direction and type, taking these angles, it forces you to make a very drastic decision.
“It kind of puts you in a difficult area. Instead of being passive, defenses can be like, ‘Oh, honey, I can be passive too.’ Our guys were doing a good job of taking out the angles that made the defense have to turn and so we were meeting the guy open there. “
The Pelicans finished with 32 assists, the record for the season, and Adams gave Ball credit for being the spark of the attack on Friday. It also helped that the Pelicans were shooting.
In addition to Ball’s big night, his defensive partner Eric Bledsoe had seven points out of 3 as well. According to the ESPN Stats & Information poll, Ball and Bledsoe became just the fifth starting block in NBA history to score at least seven 3-point points in the same game, joining Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (three James Harden and Eric Gordon, Damon Stoudamire and Nick Van Exel, and Michael Dickerson and Cuttino Mobley.
Although the movement of the ball was the key to the Pelicans’ success on Friday, the willingness to hit the kick also helped. And for Ball, it was about shooting when it was passed to him. He hit 6-to-9 on 3 catch and shoot points, which showed that he was willing to take an open look instead of trying to make the extra pass.
“We love to see that,” said Pelican striker Zion Williamson. “When he kicks the ball like that with confidence, even if he misses, just him kicking with the confidence that he will enter, that’s what we want Zo to do. He hit seven tonight and they were all good for us.”