LaMelo Ball is absurdly talented. Until he plays (let alone leads) any team that isn’t a bad team, we will have endless debates about whether he is a true, substantial, winning player. NBA player. But there is no doubt about his talent. It can be, and often is, impressive.
There’s absolutely nothing Ball can’t do with the ball in his hands, and on Saturday night he did something he’s never done in an NBA game by scoring 50 points in a 119-112 loss to the Bucks. Ball required 38 shots, including 17 three-point attempts, in 40 minutes to reach the half-century mark, but hey, a 50 piece is a 50 piece.
Ball only scored 10 points at halftime before exploding with 22 in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth as he tried to rally the Hornets. He brought them within five with his final basket with 42 seconds left, and Charlotte really cut the deficit to two on a Brandon Miller 3-pointer (Miller was fantastic again with 32 points and 11 rebounds) with 15 seconds left, but the The Bucks were able to close out the victory at the free throw line.
A couple of notes on Ball’s big night:
- Ball and Miller are now the second-youngest duo to score at least 30 points each in consecutive games. Only Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook did so at a younger combined age.
- Ball joins Kemba Walker as the only two players in Hornets history with a 50-point game, although both of Walker’s efforts came in games that went to overtime.
But here’s the most shocking number of all: Ball’s previous career-high was 38 points. That’s a surprisingly low number for a scorer as electric as Ball who has seemingly had so many big games. When my editor put the note in, I had to check it three times to be sure. It’s true. Until Saturday, Ball had never scored more than 38 points in an NBA game. Kids today score 38 while they sleep.
The first time Ball scored 38 was in February 2022 in a loss at Boston, and the second time was less than two weeks ago in an overtime loss at Philadelphia. Ball is absolutely cooking this season with 30.2 points per game, the highest mark for any point guard and behind only Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis for the league’s overall scoring lead. He also leads the league with 73 three-pointers made.
Now he has a 50-point game to add to his list of accolades.
