LaMelo Ball recorded his second-consecutive triple-double on Saturday but Illawarra could not overcome a slow first half despite a lively second-half rally, falling to the New Zealand Breakers 91-78.
Ball wasn’t nearly as efficient in his second consecutive triple-double but he was imperative in Illawarra’s second-half rally. The Hawks slowly began chipping away at the huge deficit in the third quarter and cut the margin to single digits in the fourth period.
However, down six points in the latter stages of the quarter, Ball missed a pair of free throws after a flagrant foul and the Hawks came up empty on the ensuing possession before Sek Henry buried a three-pointer to put distance between the two sides again.
From there, Illawarra never could find its footing back in the game as the visiting Hawks stumbled down the stretch. While Ball notched his triple-double late in the contest, his 23 points on the night came on 28 shots as he finished just 10-for-28 from the field. Most notably, Ball’s three-point shooting, which had improved in recent weeks, regressed dramatically on the night as he finished 1-for-11.
But Ball pulled down 12 rebounds, handed out 10 assists and had a big role in pulling the Hawks back into the game late. His highlight of the night came on a coast-to-coast play that started with a rebound and ended with a two-handed dunk.
LaMelo caught a body! pic.twitter.com/AFXvhqvNdz
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) November 30, 2019
The New Zealand lead peaked at 21 points early in the third quarter at 63-42. But a 14-3 run cut the advantage to just 10 points, a margin that would carry to the end of the third.
A three-pointer from Tim Coenraad after a Ball rebound cut the lead all the way down to 71-69, the closest the Hawks would get in the fourth quarter.
Ball became the first player in the 40-minute era of NBL’s history to record consecutive triple-doubles. It’s the fourth back-to-back triple-double in league history.
