LaMelo Ball’s career night not enough. How Hornets’ star reacted to loss in Milwaukee
Perhaps the NBA schedule makers anticipated the need for the Charlotte Hornets to take on the Milwaukee Bucks again, matching the two together exactly a week after their first meeting of the season.
With the way things ended just seven days prior, when Milwaukee was steamed due to officials making a critical error at the end of the Hornets’ win — calling a foul on Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo during LaMelo Ball’s drive to the basket in the waning seconds — the Bucks probably couldn’t wait for another crack at Charlotte.
This time around, Ball did nearly everything he could to power the Hornets to another victory over Milwaukee, accomplishing a feat for just the third time in franchise history. But the star point guard’s two new career bests weren’t enough, leaving Charlotte just short in a 125-119 loss to the Bucks at Fiserv Forum on Saturday night.
What worked so well for Ball, leading to him posting a career-high 50 points?
“Honestly, I don’t know right now,” Ball said. “We got the ‘L’ so that’s all I could think about.”
In establishing a new career-best single-game scoring total, joining Kemba Walker as the only players to reach 50 points in Hornets history, Ball showed once again just how slippery he is offensively.
In what’s become an all-too-familiar scenario for the Hornets, though, things were marred by another injury, and one that could have serious ramifications given Grant Williams’ importance.
Williams couldn’t put any weight on his right leg following an awkward fall during a drive to the basket late in the fourth quarter, continuing a never-ending trend for a team already missing Miles Bridges (right knee bone bruise), Tre Mann (low back), Mark Williams (foot) and Nick Richards (shoulder).
Grant Williams limped into the locker room, needing assistance from Richards and head athletic trainer Quentin Sawyer, and didn’t return. It’s another tough blow for a team that hasn’t been completely healthy all season, dating back to before training camp began during the first week of October.
“I think it has just been diagnosed as a right knee injury,” coach Charles Lee said. “We’ll continue to get some imaging and evaluations. The most important thing is all of our prayers are with Grant and we hope the news comes back as good as possible.”
Chalk it up as something else the Hornets (6-10) have to overcome.
“I think the group as a collective is very together, they’re very competitive,” Lee said. “I think that no matter (if we’re) up, down, we understand we have a lot of talent on this team, we have a lot of grit, a lot of fight.
“We’re never out of it, and we have to have that same type of humble confidence when we’re up, and understand that if we don’t executive and do the things that are needed at a competitive level, teams can come back, we can be beaten. But overall, we trust what we have as a group and we are going to fight to the very last buzzer.”
Aggressive LaMelo Ball
Settling for jumpers wasn’t a huge part of LaMelo Ball’s offensive repertoire.
In his 22-point third quarter in particular, Ball mixed things up, driving to the basket and attacking the Bucks’ inside tandem of Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez. He went down hard on one move in the paint early in the third quarter, colliding with Lopez mid-air and crashing to the court.
He gathered himself eventually, shaking it off and allowing the Hornets to breathe easier considering the rash of injuries they’re still dealing with.
Ball’s 22-point third quarter represented his second-most points in any quarter of his career, registering just below the 23 he posted in the fourth quarter in Dallas on Nov. 5, 2023. He went to the free throw line 13 times, draining all but two.
“It’s just him leading the team as always, leading everybody, making everybody better, getting everybody in the right places,” Brandon Miller said. “... (It’s) a great effect. It just builds confidence for everybody to play harder. We didn’t get the win, so we are going to work toward trying to get some wins.”
Going to the bucket more is something Lee wants from his star point guard, he explained to The Observer in a conversation during the Hornets’ last road trip.
“He’s been phenomenal with his offensive production so far,” Lee said. “Things that I think he can continue to grow in are just understanding time and score. Slowing down a little bit and not letting the defense speed him up and just getting the shots that he wants or that we want is an area for him that he can continue to watch film and continue to talk about.”
Now, Ball can also chat with Walker about being in rare company as members of the team’s 50-point club.
“K-Walk, that’s my guy for sure,” Ball said. “Always helping, always looking out. Just always putting in extra effort to lead and stuff. It’s all love.”
