Lakers hold off Suns, as Ball ‘tries something else’
In his second NBA game, Lonzo Ball earned his first victory and almost got a triple- double to boot.
Ball, the No. 2 overall draft pick who doesn’t turn 20 until next Friday, had 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 132-130 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
“The last game I shot six shots,” he said. “That didn’t work out so well. Figured I’d try something else.”
So he took 27 shots and made 12, finishing 4 of 9 on 3-pointers to go with his cache of assists and rebounds.
Ball’s career high in college was 24 points during his lone season at UCLA.
“Today I just had to do what I had to do to get the win. I had to shoot a few more shots. It doesn’t take me long to learn,” Ball said. “It was my first time. Everybody is going to criticize me regardless of what I do, but the more I play, the more comfortable I get.”
The Suns had a chance to tie it with 1.2 seconds to play, but T. J. Warren missed the first of two free throws. That meant he had to miss the second intentionally and hope for a rebound, but the Suns couldn’t get a decent shot off before the buzzer.
Ball took over down the stretch, scoring eight points in a 2 1/2-minute span. His final basket during that run, a floating layup, put Los Angeles ahead 130-122 with 1:35 to play.
Veteran Phoenix center Tyson Chandler was impressed.
“He gets the ball down quick regardless of whether it’s scores or misses, which puts a lot of pressure on the defense as far as getting back,” Chandler said. “He has a great feel as a young player for the game.”
But the Suns came roaring back behind Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker, who sank a 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left to cut it to 131-130. Brandon Ingram made one of two free throws to give Phoenix one last chance, and Warren was fouled by Ingram on an inbounds play.