On Monday night, Lonzo Ball played his second game since coming back from an MCL sprain. How did he perform?
After missing 15 games with an MCL sprain, Lonzo Ball was able to return to the Los Angeles Lakers last Friday night.
In the first game after the All-Star break, the Lakers were able to win in Ball’s return against the Dallas Mavericks. As expected, the Lakers were careful with Ball in his first game back. Since Ball is one of the key pieces of the young core for the Lakers, making sure they don’t push him is going to be a priority as he comes back from the MCL sprain.
Against the Mavericks, Ball was able to play quite well in his return. In the win, Ball totaled nine points, seven rebounds, and six assists. The nine points for Ball all came from beyond the arc, as he shot 3-for-6 from three-point range. Ball played just 17 minutes in that game, and if he played his normal minutes, he would have easily recorded a triple-double.
As planned, the Lakers rested Ball against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Since this was the second half of a back-to-back, the Lakers wanted to make sure that Ball felt well after his first game back.
On Monday, Ball came off the bench once again for the Lakers and performed very well. Against the Hawks, Ball totaled 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals in 24 minutes. As expected, the Lakers played Ball a bit more, as he gets closer to playing without a minutes restriction.
What might have been most impressive for Ball was that he didn’t miss a shot on Monday. Ball shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, which included him going a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range.
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The Lakers have done a very nice job working Ball back into the lineup, as they are 2-0 with him playing since he returned. Due to Ball’s ability to make things easier for his teammates, he has had no problem playing off the bench with Kyle Kuzma and Isaiah Thomas. Even though the sample size is small, Ball has played very well since returning from injury.