Dispelling trade rumors, Lonzo Ball makes up his best game yet for the New Orleans Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Pelicans playmaker Lonzo Ball is no stranger to rumors. He spent an entire season with the Los Angeles Lakers hearing how he could possibly be treated before landing with the Pelicans in the summer of 2019. But as Ball tried to navigate a rocky start to the 2020-21 season , his name began to swirl again in the rumor mill.

To his credit, however, Ball has responded with back-to-back outstanding performances. In Wednesday’s Pelicans game against Washington, Ball had nine points and four assists while hitting three 3-pointers in the first half while guarding Bradley Beal before rolling an ankle and missing the second half.

Ball returned to action Friday night and played his best game of the season in a 131-126 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. Ball had 27 points, a season-high (tying his record in a Pelicans uniform), tied a career-high with seven 3-pointers and had his second-best assist of the season with eight.

“I’m staying the course,” Ball said when asked if he has any extra motivation this week. “I’ve been playing basketball for a long time. I’ve put in a lot of work and I’m just trying to play my game. That’s how I play. I just try to stay away from all the noise and go out and try to help my team win games. “

Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said he spoke with Ball earlier this week about his ability to play in noise and play at a high level.

“Nobody likes distractions, but you have distractions all the time,” Van Gundy told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s business rumors, it’s COVID, it’s family, whatever. Other voices. There are always distractions, and a big part of success in this league is being able to block out distractions and being able to do your job. “

Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin told ESPN New Orleans radio on Thursday that he believes Ball responded with one of his best halves of the year against the Wizards.

“I think he just realized and compartmentalized his situation, it’s a good thing people bring up your name because it means you’re coveted by other teams,” Griffin told the radio station. .

For Ball, the answer meant playing more aggressively, which his coaches and teammates have been craving all season.

Pelicans center Steven Adams, who had 20 rebounds against the Bucks, said that when Ball plays aggressively and tries to get into the paint and look to score, it just helps the whole offense.

“He did a really good job at that,” Adams said. “Again my brother, with any player, as a defensive player, if you see somebody with that body language, in terms of coming right at you and like, 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 defenses can be like, ‘Oh, honey, I can be passive too.’ Our guys were doing a good job of taking angles which meant the defense had to rotate and then we found the guy open from there. “

The Pelicans finished with 32 assists, a season-high, and Adams recognized Ball as the offensive spark on Friday. It also helped the pelicans to take shots.

Ball’s big night aside, his backcourt partner Eric Bledsoe also had seven 3-pointers. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Ball and Bledsoe only became the fifth starting backcourt in NBA history to hit at least seven 3-pointers 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 key to the Pelicans’ success on Friday, the willingness to find the right shot also helped. And for Ball, it was about taking the shot when it had passed. He was 6 for 9 on 3 catch-and-shoot points, which showed he was ready to look openly instead of looking for an extra pass.

“We love to see him,” said Pelicans forward Zion Williamson. “When he shoots the ball like that with confidence, even if he misses it, just him shooting it with the confidence that it’s going to do, that’s what we want Zo to do. He hit seven tonight and they were all big for us. “