Have a Monday night LaMelo Ball.
The Charlotte Hornets‘ rookie point guard tied team records, had some amazing assists and buried a career-high seven 3-pointers in the Hornets’ 119-94 win over the Houston Rockets. The effort also helped slow down the Rockets, who had won four of their past five road games by double-digits.
“Stepped on the court. No warm-up, no nothing,” Ball said in a postgame interview on NBA TV. “Was still cool.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau research, Ball is the third player, age 19 or younger, to record multiple games of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, joining LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Pretty good company.
Ball finished with 24 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds and did it in a variety of fun ways.
Shooting 3s
LaMelo up to a career-high 6⃣ threes!@hornets 77@HoustonRockets 69
📺: NBA TV pic.twitter.com/qAxVw4SbTa
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2021
LaMelo ties the @hornets rookie record with 7 threes! 💦@MELOD1P: 24 PTS | 10 AST pic.twitter.com/aVHEV3SnPz
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2021
Ball tied his career high with four 3s in the first half Monday night. He finished with seven 3-pointers, which tied the Hornets’ rookie record. Ball has made 45 3s in 25 games. For comparison, at the same point in his career, Lonzo, LaMelo’s older brother, had 25 made 3s.
Ball is averaging 22.6 PPG in his past five games (all starts) compared to 12.2 PPG in his first 20 games, in which he came off the bench in every game, per ESPN Stats & Information research.
The assists and passing
LaMelo to Miles alert! 🚨💥
Mid-4Q on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/4igkfzv1qv
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2021
“That’s called throwing him open!”
LaMelo 👀 on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/AulFGnndIl
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2021
Bridges ➡️ Ball ➡️ Caleb Martin…Charlotte goes the full length in 1.8 seconds on NBA TV!@hornets 39@HoustonRockets 36 pic.twitter.com/hEnzwggQx6
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2021
Ball had 10 assists Monday, one short of his career high of 11, done twice this season.
With the performance, Ball is the youngest player in NBA history to record a game with 20 points, 10 assists and at least five 3-pointers.
The leading candidate for Rookie of the Year, LaMelo Ball, had 24 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds in Charlotte’s 119-94 win over Houston! 🔥
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 9, 2021
Seven threes from LaMelo tonight!
💦💦💦💦💦💦💦 pic.twitter.com/m4fRud9i4j
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 9, 2021
ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
