As LaMelo Ball goes, so have the Charlotte Hornets.
And Ball is rolling.
The remarkably gifted 19-year-old rookie made the 17th start of his NBA career against the Toronto Raptors and he continued to bring some spice to one of the blandest franchises in all of sports.
With the 114-104 win, the Hornets improved to 19-18 overall and 10-7 since Ball became a starter in early February. He’s almost single-handedly – well, he can pass brilliantly with both hands – elevated Charlotte into sixth place in the tightly packed Eastern Conference playoff race.
[snippet id=4931508]
For a team that’s hasn’t made the playoffs in four years and hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004-05, this is a big deal.
Meanwhile, for the Raptors, it was their fourth straight loss and dropped them to 17-21 and a tie for 10th place. That could prove to be a big deal too, as they struggle while shorthanded to stop their season from collapsing on itself.
Ball was brilliant, finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists, along with a block and a steal while shooting 6-of-9 from three – a big reason the Hornets were 21-of-49 from deep, which was the difference in the game.
It was just more of the same from Ball, who came into the game averaging 19.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 6.8 assists as a starter.
How good is that? According to Basketball-Reference.com, the only other rookie to match ever or surpass those marks was Oscar Robertson in 1960-61.
For the reeling Raptors, who have owned a top-four seed in the East for seven years – on average they’ve finished 7.5 games ahead of fifth place – their world is turning inside out and upside down.
While Ball led seven Hornets with at least nine points, the Raptors have almost no one to make plays at the moment. Once again Toronto was without five players due to COVID-related health-and-safety protocols, including three starters – Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby. As a result, they are relying on getting contributions from players who simply have proven they can do anything more than chip in here and there at the NBA level yet.
“These guys that haven’t played all that much or whatever, we’re just trying to look for what can they give you, something consistent,” said Nurse. “I’m not talking about 20 points but can they kind of replicate some good performances a little more consistently … so we were striving for consistency and trying to see which guys can do that.”
The good news is the Raptors’ role players are going to get more chances. The team hasn’t released whether the players who are out have tested positive for the virus or are sidelined due to contact tracing, but given it has been 16 days since Siakam was held out of the Raptors win over Houston on Feb. 26 – the same game Nurse and five members of his coaching staff were held out – and contact tracing typically doesn’t extend beyond seven days, it seems reasonable to assume that the players in question did test positive for the virus.
In the meantime Ball and the Hornets showed no mercy to the short-handed Raptors as the Hornets won for the first time in three tries against Toronto. He knocked down three triples in the first four minutes of the game to stake the Hornets to a 14-2 lead and inspire one of the most devastating three-point onslaughts the Raptors have ever had thrown at them. By the time the first quarter was over the Hornets had knocked down 11 threes on 16 attempts – the most triples any team had put on Toronto in any quarter, ever.
All of the shots from deep were assisted as the Hornets – with Ball flinging every conceivable pass from any angle his lanky six-foot-seven frame could conjure up – consistently passed up good shots for better shots and better shots for great shots. They led 44-24 after 12 minutes and had 12 assists on 14 field goals, and they were off, ending up with 16 threes made in the first two quarters, one off the NBA record for a half.
[snippet id=4725691]
“I thought they got too comfortable,” said DeAndre Bembry who started and chipped in 11 points. “It was super early and they got pretty much everything they wanted. They were hitting from the 3-point line as well. It seemed like they weren’t missing a three. I think that was more so on us. We let them get comfortable early, and they ran with it.”
Meanwhile, the Raptors couldn’t counter. Kyle Lowry did his best, scoring 16 of his team-high 19 points in the first half while adding eight assists as he tried to stop the bleeding, but he had little help. Norman Powell finally cooled down after averaging 24 points a game in his last 21 starts. He was just 4-of-14 for 13 points against Charlotte as the Raptors shot just 37 per cent through the first three quarters before polishing up the box score in garbage time with a 20-3 run to finish.
Ball isn’t playing on his own. The addition of Gordon Hayward in free agency from Boston and the emergence of a competitive young core has made the Hornets interesting for the first time since Larry Johnson was dressing as a Grandmama in Converse commercials.
But Ball has clearly given the Hornets the spirit they didn’t have before.
“I thought, obviously, he’s really, really growing and the three ball from deep is a huge weapon for him,” said Nurse. “But I think, the biggest thing is he made a couple of plays, I’m not saying we were threatening to cut the game down, but in the 15-to-17-point range that was not looking good for them and all of a sudden, he zings a no-look pass for a layup or something. You think you’ve just about got them all bottled up and you’re heading the other way and he would make a really spectacular pass for an assisted bucket. So he’s got a lot of game and he’s got size and obviously, he looked really good out there tonight.”
Nurse said before the game that he doesn’t expect any of the players to return for the Raptors game against the Chicago Bulls Sunday night, meaning Toronto won’t be anything close to full strength until they host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. At that point, it will be a lot to expect players who have been out of action for 19 days to be able to hit the floor at a full sprint, but the way things are going the Raptors will need them to.
After falling behind by as much as 22 in the first quarter and 25 midway through the second quarter, Toronto tried to pull their way back into the Hornets’ rearview mirror. Their most promising stretch came late in the second quarter when they held Charlotte without a field goal for four minutes and went on an 11-0 run to cut Charlotte’s lead to 14.
It was at that point that Ball knocked down his four triple in six attempts to stop the run. Toronto trailed 67-52 at the half and hoping for a surge following the break. Instead, Ball hit another three, assisted on one and threw a spectacular one-handed pass across the floor for a lay-up while falling backwards as the Hornets jumped out to a 24-point lead and never looked back.
Lowry and Powell sat for the fourth quarter, limiting them to 31 and 28 minutes respectively.
The Raptors can only look ahead at this point while looking up at the Hornets, thanks to Charlotte’s special rookie.
[relatedlinks]
