New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball can be the Pels’ Draymond Green

New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball is an elite defender

Lonzo Ball gave Malcolm Brogdon a tough night on Friday, pestering him incessantly whenever they were matched up defensively. Brogdon only scored 13 points against the Pelicans, his second-lowest mark this season and nine points below his scoring average. So how can it be that Ball had zero steals and only one block?

Ball made every possession Brogdon had a tough one. In the clip above, he stays with Brogdon as he drives right. Then, when Brogdon makes a hard spin left, Ball moves his hips to keep up with the play and contests. Brogdon has to shoot off balance over Ball’s outstretched long arms and doesn’t even hit the rim.

This is only one example of Ball’s defensive dominance against the Pacers. Brogdon’s first shot of the night was a miss courtesy of Ball, but even as the game continued, Ball stayed locked in. This is something that he must begin doing more regularly. It’s too often that Ball shows his defensive ability for a few plays in a game, but doesn’t buy-in for the entire 48 minutes. Stan Van Gundy needs to get Ball to love playing defense for this Pelicans team to achieve its full potential.

Ball was also a bright off-ball defender against the Pacers. Nate Bjorkgren’s team led the NBA in points in the paint before their game against New Orleans, but Ball did his part to make Indiana as uncomfortable as possible around the basket.

Above, Ball is stationed as the low man next to Pacers center Goga Bitadze. Once Brogdon drives past Brandon Ingram, Ball comes over to alter the shot. His timing is perfect and forces Brogdon to switch how he’s going to finish at the last possible moment. This possession results in an airball, which is something that probably would not have happened in the Pelicans’ first encounter against the Pacers earlier this season.