LaMelo Ball is leading all Eastern Conference guards in All-Star voting. Perhaps that’s because he does moves in the regular season that most players only attempt in the All-Star Game.
Ball put together a number of playground moves in a 115-104 win over the baffled Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, including a play where he threw a pass to himself from the free-throw line that led to free throws for Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams.
That wasn’t even the only time Ball passed to himself off the glass in this game. Later he drove for an and-one in a play that counted as a missed shot and a rebound in the box score, but was really another Ball-to-Ball pass.
The Suns defense ended up back on their heels, simply because no one else in the NBA is regularly throwing running alley-oops from behind the three-point line, like Ball did to Brandon Miller at the end of the second quarter.
Sometimes Ball, who finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, didn’t even get to the three-point arc before whipping passes in for dunks.
But if Phoenix didn’t come out to contest Ball’s long-distance passing, he had no issues with taking deep three-pointers, including one from the edge of the Hornets’ midcourt logo.
Charlotte improved to just 8-27, but Tuesday’s game was an example of why Ball is so popular and infinitely watchable. Facing All-Stars and Olympians Devin Booker (39 points) and Kevin Durant (26 points), Ball was easily the most compelling player on the floor.
His show-stopping moves seem to be spreading to his teammates as well. In the fourth quarter, Nick Smith, Jr. fired his own alley-oop to Miles Bridges, from the halfcourt line.
In a season where Ball has been regularly winning the highlights battle, Charlotte finally got its eighth win on Tuesday.
