LaMelo Ball became the youngest player in NBL history to record a triple-double, and also was just the second player since 2015 to achieve the feat, on Sunday to lead Illawarra to a 114-106 victory over Cairns.
Ball finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists (all game-highs) while shooting 55 percent from the field and 57 percent from the arc. Ball played 40 minutes on the night – notable because of the NBL’s 10-minute quarters – and finished with just two turnovers.
Illawarra came flying out of the gates and it was Ball who got his teammates going early, picking up five assists in the first four minutes. After playing the distributor role, he switched his focus to scoring, knocking down a mid-range jumper than a pair of threes before the end of the first quarter, the first of which from way behind the arc and the second coming on a step-back.
Ball also crashed the boards in the opening quarter to finish with the stat line of eight points, five rebounds and six assists. With Ball spending most of the second quarter on the bench, his teammates continued to shoot the lights out, Tim Coenraad (27 points) being the main offensive threat as he hit four first-half three-pointers.
Ball hit his third three-pointer of the night off a deep step-back with a hand in his face to bring his points tally up to 14 at half time. Shooting an outrageous 10-14 from behind the three-point arc, Illawarra’s 59 first-half points equaled the most in any half this season and gave the Hawks a 12-point lead at the break.
Ball picked up where he left off to start the second half, knocking down a mid-range jumper for his first points of the half before finishing an and-one after a tough reverse layup to get himself up to 19 points.
After maintaining a double-figure lead for the majority of the third quarter, the Hawks started to fall apart in the last few minutes of the quarter, most of which Ball spent of the bench. Cairns were able to cut the lead to five points in the final minute of the quarter but Coenraad’s fifth three-pointer pushed the Hawks lead back out to eight points with a quarter to play.
The margin stayed around this mark for all of the last quarter as the teams traded baskets. Ball earned his triple-double with an assist on a lob to AJ Ogilvy with 3:14 to play in the fourth, but the excitement was short-lived as the margin was quickly cut to four points just moments later.
A DJ Newbill three tied scores at 93 with just two minutes to play as Cairns pushed their way back into the game out of nowhere thanks to some clumsy Illawarra turnovers.
Ex-Laker point guard Scott Machado hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Taipans a four-point lead with 1:07 to play.
Ball came up clutch for the Hawks, knocking down a three-pointer with 5.6 seconds on the clock to send the game to overtime after the Hawks looked out of it. Coenraad scored the first five points before Ball punched home a huge one-handed dunk as the Hawks came out of the blocks in overtime.
While the margin was briefly cut to three points after an unsportsmanlike foul from Ogilvy, the Hawks finished strong to come home with the win.
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