Tag: Stan Van Gundy

Lonzo Ball, Pelicans ready for must-win matchups with Warriors: ‘This will be the biggest game of the season’

After a memorable comeback vs. the Wolves on Sunday, Lonzo Ball and the Pelicans are set for must-win games against the Warriors.

For weeks, Pelican fans have had Monday and Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Warriors circled on the calendar. With both sides embroiled in the race for the play-in matchups, a doubleheader in the final eight games of the season was always going to play an enormous role in the standings.

The team itself? They’ve had a must-win mentality before Monday even came around. That mentality allowed them to stage a late-game comeback on Saturday against the Timberwolves to save the stakes for Monday’s contest. For weeks, the Pelicans have viewed their upcoming game as the most important of the season.

“This was the biggest game of the season and now Monday will be the biggest game of the season,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said after Saturday’s overtime win over Minnesota. “One of the things we talk about…is the game you’re playing that night has to be the biggest game of the year and that’s how you have to approach it because we can’t afford very many losses. Obviously, we’re fighting with Golden State so everybody will focus on that but if you give away a game tonight, it just gets further and further out of reach.”

It’s been a tumultuous season for the Pelicans as they’ve bumbled and stumbled through chunks of the year. Their must-win mentality started against San Antonio on April 24, a game in which the trio of Lonzo Ball, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram combined for 81 points in a loss.

However, since that loss, the Pelicans have three of their last four games, the one loss coming in controversial fashion against the Nuggets. As has been the case most of the season, it’s been just enough for New Orleans to remain in the race for the 10th seed.

While the Pelicans have been on the outside looking in most of the season at the play-in games, the Warriors have been their counterpart. Golden State has floated through the play-in spots with a .500 record this season. Entering Monday, they sit at 32-32 and in the ninth seed, three games ahead of New Orleans.

Wins on Monday and Tuesday, then, would trim that margin all the way down to a single game. For now, though, the Pelicans are taking it one game at a time.

“We’re going into Monday with a must-win mentality,” Lonzo Ball said. “We’re not really focused on Tuesday. We have to take it one game at a time because we can’t look ahead. We have to put all our focus in that first game Monday and come out with a win and go from there.”

After their doubleheader this week, the Pelicans will have a third match-up with the Warriors on May 14. Theoretically, it puts their fate in their own hands. As unlikely a task as it may be, the Pelicans can win out and guarantee a spot in the postseason.

Even as improbable a feat as that may be, what can’t be denied is that New Orleans’ fate will be decided by themselves. After a long season of ups, downs and frustrations in-between, the Pelicans could hardly ask for anything else.

“It helps a lot that our destiny is in our hands,” Ball said. “We don’t really have to worry about anyone else. It all depends on us. We have three games against them, which isn’t going to be easy at all. We know it’s a tough task and that’s all we can ask for is a chance.”

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Lonzo Ball, Pelicans ready for must-win matchups with Warriors: ‘This will be the biggest game of the season’

After a memorable comeback vs. the Wolves on Sunday, Lonzo Ball and the Pelicans are set for must-win games against the Warriors.

[mm-video type=video id=01f4syp8h630b3y19zkj playlist_id=01eqbzg7xge4230me2 player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f4syp8h630b3y19zkj/01f4syp8h630b3y19zkj-4e79364d3896ca594e2e57baaa8edf4d.jpg]

For weeks, Pelican fans have had Monday and Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Warriors circled on the calendar. With both sides embroiled in the race for the play-in matchups, a doubleheader in the final eight games of the season was always going to play an enormous role in the standings.

The team itself? They’ve had a must-win mentality before Monday even came around. That mentality allowed them to stage a late-game comeback on Saturday against the Timberwolves to save the stakes for Monday’s contest. For weeks, the Pelicans have viewed their upcoming game as the most important of the season.

“This was the biggest game of the season and now Monday will be the biggest game of the season,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said after Saturday’s overtime win over Minnesota. “One of the things we talk about…is the game you’re playing that night has to be the biggest game of the year and that’s how you have to approach it because we can’t afford very many losses. Obviously, we’re fighting with Golden State so everybody will focus on that but if you give away a game tonight, it just gets further and further out of reach.”

It’s been a tumultuous season for the Pelicans as they’ve bumbled and stumbled through chunks of the year. Their must-win mentality started against San Antonio on April 24, a game in which the trio of Lonzo Ball, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram combined for 81 points in a loss.

However, since that loss, the Pelicans have three of their last four games, the one loss coming in controversial fashion against the Nuggets. As has been the case most of the season, it’s been just enough for New Orleans to remain in the race for the 10th seed.

While the Pelicans have been on the outside looking in most of the season at the play-in games, the Warriors have been their counterpart. Golden State has floated through the play-in spots with a .500 record this season. Entering Monday, they sit at 32-32 and in the ninth seed, three games ahead of New Orleans.

Wins on Monday and Tuesday, then, would trim that margin all the way down to a single game. For now, though, the Pelicans are taking it one game at a time.

“We’re going into Monday with a must-win mentality,” Lonzo Ball said. “We’re not really focused on Tuesday. We have to take it one game at a time because we can’t look ahead. We have to put all our focus in that first game Monday and come out with a win and go from there.”

After their doubleheader this week, the Pelicans will have a third match-up with the Warriors on May 14. Theoretically, it puts their fate in their own hands. As unlikely a task as it may be, the Pelicans can win out and guarantee a spot in the postseason.

Even as improbable a feat as that may be, what can’t be denied is that New Orleans’ fate will be decided by themselves. After a long season of ups, downs and frustrations in-between, the Pelicans could hardly ask for anything else.

“It helps a lot that our destiny is in our hands,” Ball said. “We don’t really have to worry about anyone else. It all depends on us. We have three games against them, which isn’t going to be easy at all. We know it’s a tough task and that’s all we can ask for is a chance.”

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Lonzo Ball scores career-high 33 points as Pelicans earn comeback win vs. Timberwolves

In the biggest game of the Pelicans season, Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson combined for 70 points in a comeback overtime victory.

With four minutes to go on Saturday, the Pelicans season looked to be done and dusted. Even with three games against Golden State – their primary opponent for the 10th seed – still on the schedule including a back-to-back starting on Monday, a 10-point deficit to the lowly Timberwolves looked to be the death knell in a season of disappointment.

In the blink of an eye, though, New Orleans suddenly looked something like that team many thought they could be this season. A frantic series of defensive stops and trips to the free throw line and a putback by Willy Hernangomez with 21.9 seconds left ultimately led to an overtime period that Zion Williamson and the Pelicans dominated to keep their postseason hopes alive.

“I have talked…all year about our team’s resilience,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said. “All year. And I’ll stick with it. We’ve had games where we weren’t good. We’ve had games where we’ve given up leads like tonight. But this team has never quit on anything. After a bad game or the other night in Denver (where we were) way down and come back, tonight down 10 with four minutes to go and get it to overtime. We needed that.”

Three days removed from a wild comeback that culminated in a controversial finish in Denver, the Pelicans played out nearly the same script in Minnesota, though this time with a far happier conclusion. That ending could be only be reached, though, through the expected heroics of Zion Williamson and a career night from Lonzo Ball.

Williamson poured in 37 points on 14-of-17 shooting from the field with nine rebounds and eight assists, a staggering stat line that shouldn’t feel as normal as it does. The yin to his yang on the night was Ball, who matched his career-high in 3-pointers with eight and surpassed his career-high in points with 33, the first 30-point game of his career.

“I thought he was great,” Van Gundy said of Ball. “I really thought he was great. And I thought it was one of the better jobs he has done, on top of that, of keeping us organized and poised coming down the stretch. He had us organized and I thought that was good.”

“We’ve been through it time and time again,” Eric Bledsoe added. “Somebody had to step up and it was them two. They had the ball in their hands tonight and we needed them to make plays.”

While Williamson was the inevitable force in overtime that fouled out three separate Wolves front court players in the extra session, Ball was the long-range specialist in the early stages of the night that made the win possible.

“I think whenever a momentum change in our favor, Lonzo was there,” Williamson said. “Whether it was hitting a three or just creating something on a fastbreak or just defense. Whenever we needed a momentum change, Lonzo was there for us tonight.”

After knocking down three 3-pointers in the first quarter, Ball more than doubled that in the third quarter, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the arc in the period. His eighth 3-pointer in the fourth quarter tied his season- and career-high and his free throw shooting, another massive area of improvement in his game, iced the game in the overtime session.

“They were helping in a lot on (Zion),” Ball said. “When the ball came to me, it wasn’t like they were 6’9”, 6’10” (players) closing out. It was guards closing out to me so I had pretty good looks at it. I was just letting it fly when it was open and it was going in.”

New Orleans’ rally in the final four minutes featured a healthy dose of missed opportunities from the Wolves, who had won four straight entering the night but still sport a 20-45 record on the season after Saturday’s loss. On the offensive end, though, the Pelicans made trips to the free throw line through Brandon Ingram, Eric Bledsoe and Hernangomez to make their comeback.

With the Pelicans down two following a Ricky Rubio jumper with 38.6 seconds left, it was Ball who crashed the offensive glass after missed 3-pointers by himself and Ingram to keep the ball alive before Hernangomez’s putback tied the game with 21.9 seconds remaining.

Needing a stop defensively to force overtime, Williamson switched onto D’Angelo Russell and forced a long, fadeaway 3-pointer that missed. Ball, again, fought for the rebound to help see the clock hit zeroes and send the game to overtime.

“(We) got a lot of guys on this team that have that fight in them, that dog in them that came out tonight,” Ball said. “We ended up going into overtime with a good stop by (Zion) and then he carried us in OT and we came out with a win.

“I love playing like this, especially with the pressure up high,” he added. “I feel like I play better. I’m just blessed to be in this position, to finally be here and play in these big games for us. For me, (I’ll) just keep coming in with the same attitude and do what I can do to help my team win.”

In overtime, Williamson went full battering ram, fouling out Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid in consecutive offensive possessions as he scored seven of the Pelicans’ 17 points. Ball added five, all of those coming at the free throw line. He matched his career-high of 29 points after splitting a pair with 48 seconds remaining.

He added two more on the next possession to set a career-high and eclipse the 30-point mark. After Ingram, the team’s best free throw shooter on the year at 88.5%, missed a pair, Ball knocked down the final two of the game to seal the win.

“I’m just happy we won,” Ball said. “The points are going to be there depending on the night. I’m not really too worried about that. It’s the fact that we won is all I carry about. I know we have to finish these last nine (games) strong so that’s what I’m focused on.”

Saturday’s win sets up a back-to-back that will effectively determine the Pelicans’ postseason fate. A bizarre scheduling quirk sees Golden State visit on Monday and Tuesday for the first meetings between the two teams this season.

After wins by both teams on Saturday, the Pelicans sit three games back of the Warriors with eight games remaining, making both games virtual must-wins. But all those stakes are possible largely only because of Ball, Williamson, and a nearly perfect final four minutes of regulation on Saturday.

“This was the biggest game of the season and now Monday will be biggest game of the season,” Van Gundy said. “One of the things we talk about…is the game you’re playing that night has to be the biggest game of the year and that’s how you have to approach it because we can’t afford very many losses. Obviously, we’re fighting with Golden State so everybody will focus on that but if you give away a game tonight, it just gets further and further out of reach.”

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This one stat shows how bad the Pelicans have been late in games this season

As the Pelicans continue to struggle late in games, one stat shows just how bad it has been in New Orleans this season.

The New Orleans Pelicans have repeatedly faltered in late-game situations this year. While their net rating in clutch situations (plus-2.3) would indicate they are one of the better teams in clutch situations, a deeper dive unveils the more realistic truth.

While the NBA defines clutch situations as games decided by five points in the final five minutes, shrinking that down to the final three minutes drops the Pelicans’ net rating to minus-7.2.

Reddit user u/RuggedBeliefSystem pointed out a much more revealing stat. If NBA games ended after 45 minutes instead of 48, the Pelicans would have a record of 34-23 as opposed to their current record of 25-32. That’s the difference between being 11th in the Western Conference, where they are now, and being sixth, above the play-in competition.

The team’s most recent late-game collapse on Sunday was perhaps the most frustrating. A pair of mistakes in the final 10 seconds — Eric Bledsoe not fouling after being instructed to do so and Lonzo Ball overhelping on a drive — led to the Knicks tying the game with 2.3 seconds left to force overtime and eventually win.

It led to a frustrated Stan Van Gundy sounding off on his Pelicans team after the loss as the Pelicans continue to slip farther away from the play-in game. If the team is to turn its season around late, it will almost certainly need to execute in close game situations and, specifically, the final three minutes of contests.

Stan Van Gundy sounds off on Lonzo Ball, Pelicans defensive errors: ‘We screwed up that entire play’

After the Pelicans bottled another game down the stretch on Sunday, Stan Van Gundy sounded off in his postgame presser.

Sunday’s loss by the New York Knicks was perhaps the most frustrating of the season for the New Orleans Pelicans in a year where they’re quickly piling up. After the game, Stan Van Gundy let loose on his anger about how his team handled the end of regulation before falling in overtime.

Leading by three points with 7.8 seconds left, Eric Bledsoe allowed Derrick Rose to drive to the rim. Lonzo Ball, defending Reggie Bullock in the corner, took a step toward the drive, giving Bullock enough room to knock down a three-point after a kick out from Rose, tying the game at 103-103 with 2.3 seconds left.

New Orleans would go on to lose the game handily in overtime, 122-112. After the contest, Van Gundy unloaded.

“We addressed it directly after the game,” Van Gundy said of the miscues on the play. “There was no lack of clarity after the game.”

While he never directly stated it, based on context clues given, the Pelicans had been instructed to foul up three points and Bledsoe did not. That, though, did not excuse Ball from helping off Bullock when a two-point could not tie the game.

“Everybody in the building knows what happened,” Van Gundy added. “It wasn’t just (Ball). We screwed up that entire play. There were two mistakes on that play. They know what they are. We deserved to lose. When you do that, you deserve to lose. It’s not like someone threw in a tough one. We deserved to lose.

“All you’ve got to do is execute for 7.8 seconds. You’re just supposed to come out of the timeout, do what we’re supposed to do and put the game away and we don’t do it.”

Adding more frustration to the matter was Bledsoe’s comments after the game where he admitted that both he was instructed to foul and that he made a mistake on the final play.

“Yeah and I wasn’t paying attention,” Bledsoe said. “Lack of focus and he hit the three. Rose got downhill and made a great play.”

The loss is the third straight for New Orleans and further adds to the frustrations late in games. In games that are five points or fewer in the final five minutes, the Pelicans are 14-16 with a net rating of plus-2.3, both above-average numbers.

However, start changing some of the numbers and things get ugly quickly. In games that are three points or less in the final three minutes, New Orleans is 12-12 with a net rating of -9.6, ranking 22nd in the league. In games where they have led by three points or less in the final two minutes, their net rating of minus-21.8 is 28th in the league.

In the last two-and-a-half weeks alone, the Pelicans have played the most minutes in the league in the latter criteria, yet have a net rating of minus-29.4.

The frustration stems from the fact that the Pelicans don’t appear to be getting better in the clutch as the season progresses and that it’s coming at a time when the games are mattering more and more. Even after Sunday’s loss, the Pelicans find themselves three games back of a play-in spot.

“We’re good enough to compete with people but we don’t do the things at the end of games it takes to win,” he added. “Part of that’s a learning experience but today, no excuse whatsoever today. None. None.

“I don’t care if you’re a senior in high school, you can execute what we were supposed to be doing with 7.8 seconds to go. No excuse whatsoever.”

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Film Room: How Lonzo Ball has improved drastically in the pick and roll

Long an area of weakness in his offensive game, Lonzo Ball has taken huge strides forward in the pick and roll this season for New Orleans.

In the preseason, Lonzo Ball made it a goal to be more aggressive in the pick and roll in his second year in New Orleans. Ball was handed the keys to the offense with the trade of Jrue Holiday, and he knew an important aspect of his development was an improvement in ball screen situations, an area he struggled mightily in last season.

Early signs through the preseason indicated Ball had taken steps in the right direction, but preseason is hardly a direct predictor of the regular season. But Ball used the preseason as a launching pad into the season and has taken a gigantic step forward in the pick and roll.

Last season, pick-and-roll possessions accounted for 26.4% of Ball’s offensive possessions, and he ranked in the 11th percentile in the league in them. This season, they accounted for 22.5% of his possessions and he ranks in the 86th percentile.

Given his improvements as a shooter, some of Ball’s biggest areas of development in the pick and roll is punishing teams with his jumper.

When defenders go under the pick, Ball is shooting 50% from the field and ranks in the 83rd percentile, much more efficient numbers than last year’s shooting percentage (39%) and percentile ranking (55th).

In his 124 pick-and-roll possessions, defenders have gone under the screen in just under half of them (55). As in the clip above when the Rockets go under the screen set by Hayes, Ball’s jumper has improved to the point he can hop into his shot and knock down the 3-pointer.

The other big step forward for Ball has been his ability to knock down jumpers off the dribble in ball screen situations.

Here, Ball comes off the screen by Zion Williamson with Blake Griffin playing a higher drop coverage. With the lack of spacing the Pelicans often have, defenses are often compacted as they are here with four Nets defenders below the free throw line.

Ball recognizes the open space in the middle of the court at the free throw line, drives into that space and confidently takes the mid-range jumper over Griffin that falls.

A minute later in the same game, a similar possession takes place. Steven Adams sets a bit of a drag screen, though he acts more as a body for Ball to dance around. Eventually, Joe Harris gets caught up on Adams just enough to give Ball space for the jumper.

On the season, Ball is shooting 47.4% when dribbling off the screen and taking a pull-up jumper, ranking in the 85th percentile. Comparatively, he shot 33% on those shots last season and ranked in the 37th percentile.

Ultimately, though, Ball’s success in the pick and roll largely boils down to him being an improved finisher at the rim in these situations.

Ball has gotten both stronger physically and gained more balance and control that allows him to attack the rim and finish under control. Early in his career, he would fly at the rim out of control and off-balance, resulting in some ugly misses.

In this clip, Griffin is aware of Williamson cutting down the middle and Ball takes advantage of that, using him as a decoy as he gets all the way to the rim for an uncontested layup with his off-hand.

This play is very similar to his play in the Brooklyn game. Ball comes off the screen and sees a Bulls defense hanging around the paint. He again circles to the free throw line, but this time, takes advantage of Wendell Carter Jr. going back to Adams and attacks the rim. Instead of jumping at the rim out of control, he waits and eventually gets a layup to fall.

But Ball isn’t simply being patient in attacking the rim. As someone who has bulked up, particularly in the upper body, Ball has used that strength to get open looks.

Here, he comes off the screen and drives right into the body of Enes Kanter, using his strength and a jump stop to knock Kanter entirely out of the play and give Ball an open layup.

This is not a rare occurrence, either. Ball has used his strength in similar types of plays multiple times this season to get open looks. When attacking the basket out of pick and rolls, Ball is shooting 63.2% and ranks in the 90th percentile, albeit in a pretty small sample size (21 possessions). It’s still a vast improvement over last season when he ranked in the 14th percentile while shooting 40%.

Ball likely will never be a high-volume pick-and-roll player like a James Harden or Damian Lillard. However, if he can continue to improve in those areas, it continues to open up his offensive game and only makes him a more valuable and intriguing player moving forward.

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Stan Van Gundy calls Lonzo Ball’s shot transformation one of the best stories in the league

After watching Lonzo Ball have a career-best shooting performance, Stan Van Gundy raved about his transformation as a shooter.

Sunday night provided the latest example of Lonzo Ball’s progression in the NBA, specifically with his jump shot. While Ball had success in high school and at UCLA as a 3-point shooter – he shot 41.2% on over five attempts per game his one year in college – his unorthodox jumper let to much more erratic results in his first two years in the NBA.

His reworked jumper has been oft-discussed and he and Fred Vinson have spent much of the last two seasons reworking and fine-tuning Ball’s jumper. The results have been seen throughout this season as Ball is shooting 39.2% from the 3-point line, a career-best mark, culminating most recently in his single-game career-high eight 3-pointers against Houston on Sunday.

“You have to give him a ton of credit,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said on Sunday. “It’s hard for guys to make those kinds of changes anyway, but when you’ve had as much success playing basketball in your life as Lonzo Ball has, to be the No. 2 pick in the draft and to have the humility to say I need to change something, I need to get better and then to come in and do the work he does with (assistant coach) Fred (Vinson) and put in that time and effort, that’s something to really be admired.

“This is my job,” Ball said on whether he takes pride in his reworked jumper. “We’re paid to be in the gym. I came in, my shot wasn’t working. Pretty much all the credit goes to Fred. He got me when I first came here, the first week, and we’ve just been grinding ever since and you can see the work paying off.”

Van Gundy has only been around Ball one season in New Orleans but has watched from afar either on the sidelines in Detroit or as an analyst for TNT and has marveled at the transformation Ball’s shot has undergone. He also has been equally impressed by Ball’s willingness to drastically change his game.

“I think people, players especially, don’t understand sometimes the meaning of humility,” he said. “It’s not modesty. Humility isn’t saying ‘Oh I’m really not that good’ and not getting into an ego thing. Humility is being able to sit back and realistically look at ‘What do I have to do to get better?” That’s a tough thing for a lot of guys. I think what Lonzo’s done over the last two years to improve his shooting is one of the best stories in the league.

“He made a total overhaul of his shot from the way he shot the ball coming up through high school, college and his first couple of years in the NBA. Now, he’s just a great shooter and now he’s going to the line and making free throws. All the credit in the world to him and even then, he’ll give the credit to Fred which Fred deserves a lot of credit but no coach gets anywhere with a player without the player’s work ethic and humility and desire to learn.”

Outside of the simple raw numbers, Ball’s 3-point attempt rate – or the percentage of his field goal attempts that are threes – has dramatically risen with his shooting percentages from range. Per Synergy, Ball ranks in the 85th percentile in spot-up possessions and is in the 84th percentile in catch-and-shoot opportunities. Comparatively, last season he ranked in the 52nd percentile as a spot-up shooter and 77th percentile in catch-and-shoots

Not satisfied with his improvements, Ball has already begun taking the next steps in his improvements as a shooter as well in becoming more adept at knocking down shots off screens.

“That’s kind of been the next phase,” Ball said. “That’s what we’ve been working on recently, trying to come off pin downs, floppy screens, stuff like that just to get up a couple of extra threes and they were falling tonight.”

It’s not an aspect of his game that has been evident this season as he’s had just 10 possessions coming off screens. If he’s able to develop his game in those areas though, given Zion Williamson’s development as an on-ball player this year, it could make that combination even more dangerous moving forward.

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Lonzo Ball says he should have shot the ball on final possession vs. Bucks

After the Pelicans failed late in the game again on Thursday, Lonzo Ball took the blame for not shooting on the team’s final possession.

Thursday offered another last-second situation for the Pelicans on the road against Milwaukee. But, as has become an unfortunate routine, it played out in a new, yet still unsuccessful fashion.

Up three with 14.7 seconds remaining, the Bucks were in-bounding the ball with a chance to ice the game at the line. Instead, the Pelicans swarmed Khris Middleton and forced a turnover with 10 seconds remaining. What transpired was an overly unselfish and literally passive possession.

Three players touched the ball in the final play with a total of four passes. This time, the Pelicans did create a semi-open look, multiple in fact. But both Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram turned down potential game-tying looks and New Orleans never even got off a shot to tie as Donte DiVincenzo stepped in to take a charge on Ingram, sealing a 129-125 Bucks victory.

It was a clunky end to a game the Pelicans were in from start to finish. But, yet again, the team could not close the game late.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” Ball said. “We got the steal. I should have just shot the ball. That’s really all it comes down to.”

Ball remained on fire from 3-point range in the game, going 6-of-10 on the night, accounting for nearly half of the team’s 13 3-pointers.

“It was frustrating to see guys pass up shots who worked hard to get themselves in that position and everything else,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I thought the best look we had was Lonzo’s and he knows it. He was 6-for-10 from three tonight. I would have liked to have seen that one go up.

“But that’s really easy to say sitting where you guys do watching TV and where I do standing on the bench. We’re all standing there watching and it’s easy to say that should have happened and he will tell you that should have happened but it’s a little tougher when you’re out there in real-time against NBA players flying around and stuff. I’m not going to fault him on that.

“He’s playing outstanding basketball,” he added. “We wouldn’t have had a shot in this game if it wasn’t for him. It was just a mistake and, hopefully, we learn from it and move on and do a better job on Saturday night.”

Ball wasn’t the only one to take blame on the play. Ingram, always one to take responsibility for shortcomings from the team as a whole, also noted that he should have shot the ball as well.

“First, I would have told Zo to shoot the basketball,” he said on what he would do differently on the final play. “But second, I should have shot the basketball. If he passes me the basketball, he has trust in me to make the right play. I just would have made the right play and believed in myself and shot the basketball.

“I think the lesson I learned this game is just time and score. I’m usually aware of a lot of things going on during the game. I think, just at the end of the game, just having a sense of urgency on the offensive end and (knowing) what we need on the basketball floor.

“At the end of the game, we needed a three and I drove the basketball and DiVincenzo stepped up and took the charge,” he continued. “Of course, we needed the three so I think that’s what I learned tonight, just time and score and having a sense of urgency at all times.”

Williamson, who finished with a team-high 34 points, on the night, was not officially involved in the offensive sequence. After helping force the steal, Williamson didn’t touch the ball again until after Ingram committed the offensive foul.

As quickly as he caught it, Williamson was kicking the ball out to Ball for a game-tying 3-point attempt that Ball was ready to shoot as the whistle blew.

“We had so many opportunities at the end,” he said. “We made a few shots and then we missed some. I think at the end of the game, I think everyone was so unselfish and everyone knew we had 14 seconds left to make a play that it just kind of got the best of us on that.

“But the more and more we’re in those situations, we just learn from it. That’s the best thing you can do from that.”

While it was different than their previous late-game struggles – like against Portland when Ball was forced into a long 3-pointer – it would not be hard to find reason for optimism in the sequence.

Multiple open looks were created, a difference from previous games, and multiple players made an extra pass trying to find the best shot, even if they were unnecessary. Ultimately, it still goes down as another frustrating loss for the Pelicans but is one they can grow from.

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Pelicans ride Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball’s defense to historic comeback win

Behind super individual defense from Josh Hart and Lonzo Ball, the New Orleans Pelicans staged a monster comeback against Boston on Sunday.

On Friday, the Pelicans learned the hard way the importance of finishing out a game when leading by double digits in the second half. It took all of two days to apply those lessons.

New Orleans’ win over Boston on Sunday was historic but also could serve as a turning point for the Pelicans. The 24-point deficit is the largest overcome in franchise history, and that margin came midway through the third quarter.

The spark for the Hornets was the bulk of their core along with one surprise addition. Down the stretch, Stan Van Gundy stuck with the group of Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and Nicolo Melli. While the first four are mainstays in the rotation, The 17 minutes from Melli, though, were not only the most since mid-January but was the first extended action he’s had since the end of January.

That five-man grouping played the final 13 minutes of the game together. Unlike the majority of the season, though, the Pelicans excelled on the defensive end. In their time on the court in the fourth and overtime, that group had an 84.6 defensive rating.

“That was a game where there was just, in my mind, the last 15 minutes of that game, you’re coming from way down – down 24 halfway through the third – you’re going to have to go with your guys at the risk they run out of gas,” Van Gundy said, “but you’re down 24 anyway so having them fresh is not going to do you any good so we went with our guys that we thought could get the job. They did a fantastic job of fighting through fatigue and everything else.” 

The individual defense of both Hart and Ball, specifically, was outstanding on the night. The duo was matched up against for Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker, respectively, for much of the fourth and overtime and forced them into a combined 4-of-18 shooting.

The addition of Melli allowed the Pelicans to change up their defensive scheme as well with Melli showing high and doubling on ball screens with Tatum to force the ball out of his hands.

“I think the energy definitely picked up,” Ball said of the defense in the fourth. “We started getting into the ball more. We kind of changed our coverage a little bit on the screens. We started trapping (Tatum) coming off and being in more help when (Brown) got it and Kemba. From top to bottom, I think the staff did a great job making adjustments during the game and we did a good job following the game plan as they made those adjustments.”

“Me and (Hart), we’re looked upon to guard the stars of the other team pretty much night in and night out,” Ball added. “Tonight, we just did our best to slow those guys down the best we could. It’s not just two guys guarding the ball, though. We all came together on that side of the ball and started rebounding and getting in passing lanes and stuff like that and getting out on the break.”

Ball was the primary defender on Walker over the course of the game, forcing him into 1-of-7 shooting overall and 1-of-6 from 3-point range. Hart forced Tatum into 4-of-12 shooting overall as well.

As the defense stepped up and forced stops, the offense turned into heavy doses of Ingram and Williamson as the two leaders of the young Pelicans took over, scoring a combined 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“I think our defense picked up a lot,” Ball said. “We got a little faster on that side of the ball. And on offense, we relied on (Ingram) and (Williamson) to carry us toward the finish line. Tonight was a team effort and we ended up pulling it out.”

Williamson and Ball all played the entirety of the fourth quarter and overtime while Ingram checked in four minutes into the fourth and never checked out, leaving Van Gundy impressed with how his young core handled the extra minutes and responsibility on the night.

“(Zion) handled the workload fine and he did a pretty good job on the defensive end of the floor, too,” he said. “I was really, really happy. That’s what you have to do in this league if you want to be the guys, what he and Brandon did tonight and (Lonzo), the minutes they put in and played through all that…that’s what needed to be done tonight and you have to be able to do it and take on that responsibility and they did it.”

As memorable as the win was, though, Van Gundy said the weekend showed how quickly everything can change in the NBA.

“The last two games are about all the lessons our team needs,” he said. “First of all, every night is a new night in this league. I’m not a big believer in momentum. Momentum is whatever you bring into the game on a given night. Huge collapse in the fourth quarter the other night, huge comeback tonight. Every night’s a new night and you’ve just got to play through everything and keep fighting, play possession by possession by possession. From night to night and from minute to minute in the NBA, things change quickly.

“You can’t get complacent when you’re in a lead because it can go away quickly and you can’t quit playing when you’re behind. Things change very, very quickly in this league in games and in seasons. Just keep fighting.”

Lonzo Ball saves Pelicans win with last-second defensive stop against Pacers

Lonzo Ball’s contest at the rim of Myles Turner forced a miss on a potential winning basket and earned the Pelicans a road win on Friday.

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.”