Lonzo! Born to Ball!

Your Basketball Thoughts |Clutch Lonzo Ball|WARRIORSvsPELICANS| 5/04/2021 Ball bounces back with 33, Pelicans top Warriors 108-103 NEW ORLEANS (AP) As Lonzo Ball's step-back jumper for the lead went down in the final 30 seconds, the Pelicans guard briefly turned toward the stands with his chest bowed out. The scene stood in stark contrast to a night earlier, when Ball missed 15 of 18 shots in a lopsided loss and then apologetically texted teammate Zion Williamson with a pledge to do better. Ball hit seven 3-pointers and capped a 33-point performance with a go-ahead shot and four clutch free throws in the final 25.3 seconds, and the Pelicans pulled out a crucial 108-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. ''I wanted to be there for the guys tonight, especially Zion, who's going out every night and basically getting 30 (points) and 10 (rebounds) for us,'' Ball said while explaining the motivation for his text to Williamson. ''For me, to have the type of performance I had (Monday), it's unacceptable, especially at this time of the year. And I wanted to fix it.'' Stephen Curry, who had 37 points and hit eight 3s, missed a deep jumper that could have given Golden State the lead in the final 20 seconds. Mychal Mulder briefly appeared to have a long offensive rebound in his grasp when Williamson stole it and drew a clear path foul from Draymond Green. Williamson, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds, hit his free throws. The Warriors then fouled Ball twice more after that, but Ball didn't miss and New Orleans pulled within three games of a Western Conference play-in position with six contests remaining. Afterward, Williamson praised Ball for holding himself accountable in his text and then bouncing back strong in the next game. ''You love to have teammates like that, you know, that say stuff like that and come the next day and show out,'' Williamson said. ''That's what I love about Lonzo. He just wants to win and will do whatever it takes.'' #ClutchLonzoBall #WARRIORSvsPELICANS #BorntoBall