Lonzo Ball records second career triple double
Apparently all Lonzo all needed was a fresh haircut to turn his season around. The highly scrutinized rookie point guard notched his second triple double of the season against the Denver Nuggets.
His brother drew headlines for shoplifting in China and his outspoken father Lavar Ball has gained an enormous amount of publicity after engaging in a heated back and forth argument with the President Donald Trump. Although his family has attracted headlines, it was Lonzo who stole the show on Sunday night.
Despite constant criticism and relentless media coverage, the 20-year-old playmaker zoned in and gave one of his best performances as a professional. Much has been made of his shooting struggles in this young season, and Ball has slowly but surely inched towards improvement.
Although the Lakers blew out the undermanned Nuggets 127-109, the game was far from perfect from the growing floor general. Shooting remained a point of concern for Lonzo, but he managed make himself useful in other ways as he grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out 11 dimes.
By scoring 11 points, grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists, Ball became just the second rookie in Lakers history with multiple triple-doubles in his first season. The other? That would be Lakers legend, NBA Hall of Famer, and current President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson.
Johnson had a total of seven such games in his rookie season, and his first-year guard already has two in the books through his first 17 games. Ball is on pace to finish the year with nine triple-doubles and break Johnson’s Lakers rookie record in the process.
Lonzo and the Lakers embarrassed the Nuggets at Staples Center, but they couldn’t have done it without the help of Denver head coach Mike Malone and his blossoming star Nikola Jokic. Malone was ejected in the second period after he stormed the court during play to confront the sideline referee on a no-call. Jokic swiftly followed suit and was promptly ejected alongside his play-caller.
Without their head coach and down their best player, the Nuggets sputtered into halftime with 48 points, 13 turnovers and a technical foul on combo guard Jamal Murray to boot. If that wasn’t enough, to add insult to injury, All-Star forward Paul Millsap exited the game in the second quarter with a sprained left wrist.
Denver put together what was possibly their worst showing of the year, but found their silver lining in the post game report. X-rays on Millsap’s wrists came back negative and the big man is only slated to miss the Nuggets’ Monday night matchup with the Sacramento Kings.
Losing Millsap for an extended period of time would’ve been a significant setback considering the $30 million he’s owed this season and the considerable impact he’s made for this inexperienced Nuggets squad. This stroke of luck should be used to refocus a team that has been wildly inconsistent.
They’re in the playoff picture for now, but one bad break and they might find themselves watching from a couch come April.
