After trailing by as many as 17 points in the first quarter in Oklahoma City on Friday evening, the Lakers scratched and clawed their way all the way back, and held a 3-point lead with just 5.3 seconds left, riding their young core to what was about to be a big victory in a packed Western Conference playoff race.
Russell Westbrook got the ball for OKC, and Lonzo Ball tried to foul him just before Westbrook went into his shooting motion from behind the arc, with 2.9 seconds on the game clock. The officials called a shooting foul, and Westbrook sunk all three to force OT.
“I thought I got the foul off before he got up to shoot the ball, but apparently that’s not what happened,” said Ball. “It was my fault that he hit the three free throws. Maybe I should have fouled him a little earlier, but I had to just wash it off.”
Turns out he did get the foul off. After the game, the NBA Official's Twitter account said it shouldn’t have been a shooting foul, after all. But instead of hanging his head, Ball said: “Just wash it off. I told my teammates I got him for the next five minutes, and I feel I did pretty good.”
Indeed he did. Ball opened the OT scoring with a deep 3-pointer, and later added a layup towards his 18 points, 10 assists and six boards with a steal, while holding Westbrook scoreless in OT. Ball acknowledged the significance of the win, especially in the continued absence of LeBron James and Rajon Rondo, and considering L.A.’s closing line up featured three 21-year-olds – Ball, Brandon Ingram (career-high 11 assists), Ivica Zubac (career high 26 points with 12 boards) – and two 23-year-olds – Kyle Kuzma (32 points, eight boards and three steals) and Josh Hart (12 points, 10 boards, five assists plus three steals).
“Especially beating a good team like that in their home, in overtime,” he said. “Odds were against us. We pulled it out. I know Luke lost his voice so I know he was doing the best coaching job he could do. We all did it together, from the coaching staff to the last dude.”
Looking at Ball’s all-around play of late, it’s easy to see that he’s improved from earlier this season, as he's further distanced himself from the offseason knee scope that mostly kept him from working on his game. His defense has been strong all season – he’s a key reason why the Lakers are 6th in the NBA in defensive efficiency – and his passing and rebounding (4th among point guards) remain impactful.
On the flip side, the Chino Hills product continues to struggle with his shooting, hitting 40.3 percent overall, 33.3 percent from three and 41.8 percent at the free throw line.
One area that’s taken a jump from last season, however, has been his finishing at the rim:
2017-18
Restricted Area: 47.9% (80/167)
Layups: 42.6% (66/155)
Dunks: 15
2018-19
Restricted Area: 57.5% (88/153)
Layups: 49.6% (61/123)
Dunks: 25
In the OT at OKC, Lonzo had the ball at the top of the key, with L.A. protecting a 127-122 lead and the Thunder well within striking distance. We haven’t seen him drive to the basket too often in such situations, but he put the ball on the floor, got past Westbrook, jumped and hung in the air, and maneuvered the basketball around Steven Adams to his left hand before finishing at the rim.
After the game, I asked Walton why Ball appears to have taken a jump on his driving game.
“He’s definitely gotten stronger,” said Luke. “That’s all he could do this offseason, he couldn’t do any basketball work, so he’s just in the weight room every day. Then it takes time and reps in practice, and to me he’s still at the very beginning stages of what he’s going to be able to do getting downhill and getting into the paint and finishing. He’s putting that work in … we continue to encourage him to do it as often as possible. Even when he’s not making his shots, we need him being able to do that and feel what that’s like, and he’s getting better for sure.”
Walton, not to mention James and Rondo, are constantly telling Ball to be more aggressive driving to the rim, as if they realize more than he does how much it can help both his own game, and more importantly, the team.
“Being aggressive isn’t only shooting once you get down there (in the paint), but we want him collapsing the defense,” Walton explained. “We need to penetrate other team’s defenses, and he’s one of the guys that has that ability, with his speed, size and strength, to get downhill and really get to the rim and put his body in and still see over people. So at that point if it’s a pass, then yeah, we want him to pass, but we constantly are encouraging him not to just get off the ball too early, or if he is in a pick and roll, even though some of those are good passes, we still want him taking an extra dribble or too to really flatten that defense even more.”
