After Kobe Bryant grabbed the national spotlight by winning an Oscar on Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers return to STAPLES Center on Monday riding a five-game winning streak and a perfect post-All Star break start.
At home, the Lakers have not lost since Jan. 5, a streak that can extend to 10 straight games with a win over Portland on Monday. In fact, the Lakers have won 17 of 24 total games dating back to the start of the current home streak, and Lakers coach Luke Walton had to coach 16 of those games without star rookie guard Lonzo Ball. Add in a trade deadline move that led to three straight losses, and even the 17 wins in 24 games doesn't seem to do the Lakers' current level of play justice.
Certainly, the Lakers are playing better than their 28-34 record suggests.
The Lakers are playing winning team basketball with Ball back healthy and new trade addition Isaiah Thomas helping carry the short-handed team. Josh Hart underwent surgery on a fracture in his hand, so he's likely out for the remainder of the season, and Brandon Ingram sat out Saturday's game with a hip injury.
The Truth About Lonzo Ball's Shot
On Saturday, Ball opened a few eyes with his trio of three-pointers in the final three minutes of a come-from-behind victory in San Antonio. Two of those three-pointers gave the Lakers the late lead, highlighting the clutch nature of those shots and the confidence with which Ball shot them.
Ball, though, has been far more proficient with his outside shot than his season average of 33.6 percent suggests. The Lakers' season started on Oct. 19, and in his first month as an NBA pro, Ball struggled with his shot and only made 22.8 percent of his three-pointers. However, even that low number wasn't representative of the kid's play from Oct. 19 to Nov. 19.
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Ball only seemed to shoot poorly at STAPLES Center at that early stage in his career, as he clearly struggled to adjust to playing on the big stage in his home town. In LA and often in front of a national audience, Ball only shot 11.9 percent from three that first month. On the road, however, the rookie shot 35.1 percent from distance over that same stretch of time.
Sensible minds expected Ball to settle in at STAPLES Center, so what happened next should not have been surprising.
Over Ball's next 23 games, which span from Nov. 21 against Chicago to Saturday's win in San Antonio, Ball shot 41.7 percent from three. In truth, the rumors of a broken shot were always greatly exaggerated, and the conversation around reconstructing the former UCLA Bruin's shot should have never received national attention. But they did, and the narrative of Ball's broken shot continued to persist.
Ball's shot is unorthodox, but clearly, it's not broken, and opposing teams are becoming more and more acutely aware of that fact. In the four games Ball has played since the All Star break, the rookie has made 14 of 22 three-point attempts, which calculates out to a scorching 63.6 percent. While that level of long range proficiency is not expected to continue, the overwhelming data suggests that the kid could always shoot. He simply needed time to settle in at STAPLES Center.
Lonzo Ball and Isaiah Thomas: Early Returns
In addition to Ball, Thomas has provided a recent spark to the team off the bench. The 29-year-old play-making point guard is averaging 19.4 points and 5.2 assists over the five-game winning streak that launched when the All Star break ended.
In particular, Thomas and Ball play well together.
According to NBA.com/stats, the combination of Ball and Thomas on the court together has yielded an offensive rating of 122.4 and a defensive rating of 100.0. Those ratings represent the number of points scored and allowed, respectively, per 100 possessions. While the four game sample size is admittedly small, the early returns of the duo playing in tandem are eye-popping.
For comparison's sake, the Lakers as a team have an offensive rating of 103.8 and a defensive rating of 105.4. That offensive rating ranks the Lakers 23rd out of 30 teams, while that defensive rating ranks the Lakers at 11th in the NBA.
With Ball and Thomas together, the Lakers have been scoring more efficiently, while still playing defense at a high level. A rating of 122.4 would top the Warriors' league-leading 114.0 and a defensive rating of 100.0 would top the Celtics' league leading rating of 101.4.
In addition, the Thomas and Ball combo on the court pushes the Lakers' pace up to 108.6 possessions per game, which is faster than the 103.2 possessions per game the team has been averaging for the season. As a note, the Lakers already lead the NBA in pace, and Walton and his staff have emphasized pushing the ball and speeding up the game.
While Thomas' slight size poses obvious defensive issues, Walton has utilized the length of a player like Ivica Zubac in the second unit and the athleticism of players like Ball and Julius Randle to diminish Thomas' obvious size disadvantage. When Randle and Thomas are on the court together, the Lakers have a defensive rating of 102.2 and an offensive rating of 112.0.
While Randle and Thomas' on-court stats may overlap slightly with Ball and Thomas' on-court stats, the clear early indication is that Ball and Thomas can play together, push the Lakers' lead-leading pace even faster, score more points offensively and defend with activity and length in support.
Twenty games remain before the 2017-18 season expires, and Walton will likely call on Ball and Thomas to play together far more often down the stretch. Even before the All Star break, when Ball first returned to practice from his MCL sprain and Thomas was a brand new addition to the squad, Walton put Thomas and Ball together in practice and liked what he saw.
Riding a five-game winning streak fueled by Ball and Thomas, it's easy to see what Walton liked.
