Isaiah Thomas Praises Lonzo Ball’s ‘Poise’ After Lakers’ Win Vs. Spurs

Don’t look now, but Lonzo Ball has played some outstanding basketball of late.

The Los Angeles Lakers point guard had an abysmal start to his rookie season, shooting a lowly 24 percent from 3-point land in November. But Ball has been brilliant since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for 15 games before the NBA All-Star break.

In the four games since returning from the knee sprain, Ball is shooting 63.3 percent from long distance and is averaging 12 points, 7.2 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game. He has shot 59.4 percent from downtown in his last nine games.

Ball continued his torrid stretch Saturday night, hitting six treys in the Lakers’ come-from-behind 116-112 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The UCLA product finished with 18 points, 11 assists and seven boards, and new teammate Isaiah Thomas has been very impressed by the young guard.

“Just poise,” Thomas said, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “He’s not always going to hit 3s like that, but he took it with confidence. He is a poised young man that has a lot of confidence in himself. Any type of situation he’s in, he has the same mentality — you never see him too high or too low and that is a trait you can’t teach.”

The Lakers have the second most wins since January (17), trailing only the Houston Rockets, who extended their winning streak to 15 games with a victory over the Boston Celtics on Saturday.

While their poor play early on probably took them out of the NBA playoff picture, it’s a good sign that Ball and the rest of the young Lakers are starting to live up to their lofty potential.