Lonzo Ball’s instincts and ability to read the game have long been one of his greatest strengths, though they’ve often been used to describe his offensive game. On Friday, it was the defensive end where Ball saved the game for the Pelicans.
With New Orleans leading by one point, largely due to Ball’s perfect 3-point shooting in the fourth, with 12.3 seconds left, Ball read the Pacers final play, met Myles Turner at the rim and forced a miss in the final seconds to preserve the Pelicans’ 114-113 win.
“Myles just hit the pick and pop three (the possession before),” Ball said. “They had the same formation as the time he made that so I figured they were going back to it. Steven (Adams) tried to cover for me a little bit (on T.J. McConnnell) and then he got back…to take away the three.
“(Turner) got a step on him and then I was just trying to come help side and contest it the best way I could and he ended up missing the shot and (Hart) got the rebound for us and ultimately led to the win.”
It was a wild finish to a wild fourth quarter that saw the Pacers’ bench storm back from down double digits to take the lead. But Ball was a perfect 4-for-4 from the 3-point line in the final frame, hitting big shot after big shot to try to stem Indiana’s run.
“Well, he is shooting the ball well,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said. “There’s no question about that but he’s a good shooter. He shot the ball well last year. He got off to an awful start this year and now he’s got it going. So, I don’t think he has changed a great deal there.”
When Doug McDermott completed the Pacers’ comeback with a pull-up 3-pointer in transition, to put the hosts up 102-101, it was Ball who buried a step-back 3-pointer off a Steven Adams screen to put the Pelican back up two.
When Justin Holiday responded with a 3-pointer to again give Indiana a lead, Ball drove to the rim on the next possession to draw a foul and tie the game. Ball’s final three of the period came on an offensive rebound from Adams, who kicked out to a wide open Ball that knocked down the shot without hesitation, putting New Orleans up 110-107.
“I think when you shoot the ball well, yeah, your confidence goes back up,” Van Gundy said. “He’s shooting the ball when he’s open without hesitation. I like it. He’s been a little bit more aggressive taking the ball to the basket which I also like.”
Indiana answered Ball’s three, as they did much of the fourth, with one of their own from McDermott. But a tip-in from Adams and a pull-up jumper from Brandon Ingram with 42.6 seconds left gave New Orleans a 114-110 lead.
Out of the timeout, Turner, one of the main figures in the Pacers’ stunning win in New Orleans earlier this season, popped out to the 3-point line on a ball screen with T.J. McConnell and knocked down the long-range shot to cut the deficit to one.
Ingram had his chance to respond but a broken play led to an airball from the All-Star, allowing Indiana the chance at the win.
“That was encouraging for me because I took a shot that I thought I could make but I rushed it a little bit and I came short on it,” Ingram said of Ball’s final stop. “For him to cover me up on that end and be in that position like he’s always been in our defense and our offense, it was encouraging for me and I definitely told him about it after the game.”
After Josh Hart used New Orleans’ final foul to give, Indiana ran a similar set to inbound the ball to McConnell and set up a high ball screen with Turner. This time, Ball went under the screen, allowing Adams to run Turner off the line. Ball read the play, raced Turner to the spot and went straight up to force the miss. Hart would grab the rebound and call a timeout, allowing New Orleans to escape with the win.
“Lonzo really stepped up for us in the fourth quarter,” Zion Williamson said. “He hit some big shots for us and for him to come over and get a great verticality defensive stop, man, that was big time. We’re glad we got him. That’s Lonzo. We believe in Lonzo to do stuff like that.”
“Outstanding,” Van Gundy added of the final play. “That’s the kind of plays you have to make plays to win. Great, great defensive play by him. Like I said, he had a couple of those tonight and was fantastic.”
Ball’s defensive stand was the exclamation point on a string of strong performances from the fourth-year guard as he appears to once again be hitting his stride after a slow start. Since returning from an injury that Ball said had bothered him to start the year, Ball is shooting 39.7% from three.
“I’ve got a chance to see him play with he’s healthy,” Ingram said. “He just looks like himself. He looks like he’s confident in his movements, confident in everything that he’s doing and he puts in the work. For it to be seen during game time is beautiful to see.”