Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Los Angeles Clippers in their first Summer League game of July. Lonzo Ball struggled throughout most of the night, but Brandon Ingram and Brice Johnson both dominated. Brice Johnson had 23 points and Ingram had 26 in a battle that was overshadowed by the oldest Ball brother. Both the Clippers and the Lakers have a lot of promising young talent.
With the departure of Chris Paul, the Clippers may need to use some young talent more than they did last season.
Early in the game
Lonzo Ball started off his NBA career with an assist to Brandon Ingram. The Lakers ran a lob play for Ingram off of a backscreen from Zubac. Lonzo fed him a nice pass through the air that got the crowd erupting. Las Vegas was packed with Lakers fans, all here to see the young talent Los Angeles has to offer.
Lonzo had a great start, he didn’t force anything and made good reads. Through one-half of play Lonzo finished with 2 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Lonzo might be the name for the summer for LA, but Brandon Ingram showed he was dominant in the first half.
Brandon Ingram had 8 points on 4 of 6 shooting. Ingram drew at least four fouls on and off the ball that were because the opposition just couldn’t guard him.
Second half of game
Lonzo Ball’s struggles continued throughout the second half. He finished the game with just 5 points on 2 of 15 shooting, 1 of 11 from three. He shot the ball with confidence, but the ball just wasn’t going to the hoop. Lonzo brought a lot of positivity to the floor. The way he pushed the ball up the floor through his passing, he had some nice pokes on defense, but his struggles certainly outweighed the good.
On the bright side for the Lakers, some of the others looked great. Rookie center Thomas Bryant out of Indiana had himself a day.
He had 13 points and 5 rebounds, including a lot of hustle, plays you can’t write on a stat sheet. Bryant came up big with a block, and a hustle rebound where he saved the ball from going out of bounds.
David Nwaba only logged three points on the night, but he gave a lot of effort on defense and looked like a true professional on the floor. For the Clippers, Sindarius Thornwell had a great evening. He had 26 points and 5 rebounds in the win over the Lakers. Thornwell, out of South Carolina, brought some intensity on defense and gave a lot of good defensive possessions against Brandon Ingram.
Lonzo Ball was still the feature of the night. He struggled, but it was obvious that it was just an off night of the shooting.