Cavs laud Lonzo Ball’s professionalism, contributions after DNPs: ‘He’s just about winning’

The Cleveland Cavaliers needed Lonzo Ball to step up with Sam Merrill and Dean Wade ruled out on Friday night, and he did not disappoint. Despite missing back-to-back games due to losing a spot in the regular rotation, Ball provided energy on both ends of the floor and showed that he can help when called upon.

Though knocking down a pair of corner triples stands out on the stat sheet, it was his offensive flow and defensive prowess that came up big time as a plus-11 in a 113-108 win for the Cavs over a pesky, shorthanded Denver Nuggets bunch.

“Incredible,” Jarrett Allen said postgame. “He shot the open shots. He found the open guy. He hit me on the transition one that I missed the layup, but he was just finding everybody. And getting stops on the defensive end.”

“Zo has been out for two games, and now to come in and have the immediate impact, not just the three-ball, but coming in, the play he had at the rim defensively, getting steals, getting stops, leading us, huge,” Donovan Mitchell added.

Lonzo Ball was a catalyst for Cavaliers on Friday night

Ball came up with some key plays throughout the evening, including two blocks on a red-hot Jamal Murray and assists to Mitchell and Allen. Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson envisions that as what “Playoff Zo” could look like and admires Ball’s professionalism over the last week.

“Just my conversations with him over the past couple of days, he goes, ‘I just love we’re winning,’” Atkinson said. “He goes, ‘Whatever you need from me. You want a DNP? You want me to play? Whatever you need.’ Listen, it’s pro sports. He’s got a reputation in this league. He could have a different slant, right?

“He’s just about winning. He wants to win with his team. He’ll do whatever’s necessary and has been outspoken with me about that. So just respect. So I’m glad. It’s almost like you get rewarded for your spirit and your attitude, team attitude.”

Cavs forward De’Andre Hunter, a former starter who also has had to sacrifice for the collective betterment, can relate.

“I don’t think you see it on every team,” Hunter said. “It’s just about not having an ego and just being bought into the team goal. We’re trying to win. We’re not trying to focus on personal goals or personal accomplishments. Those come along the way, but we keep doing what we doing, I think just staying together would be big for us.”

Mitchell is Ball’s fellow 2017 NBA Draft classmate, so he knows they’ve both seen it all over their time in the league.

“To see him not only respond on the offensive end, but for him to continue to be who he’s been and not pout, not be in bad spirits, that’s a sign of a pro, right,” Mitchell said. “Comes in, does his work, and then coming out here and impacting the game in ways he knows we needed was huge.”

“It was great,” Hunter added. “He’s playing like Lonzo. The Lonzo we know. He hit open shots. He’s getting guys involved. He’s making passes we don’t even see. That’s just the way to do it. He’s disruptive on the defensive end.”

On Friday morning, Mitchell praised Ball’s involvement both off the court and on the sidelines, despite the change.

“You can’t even tell. You can’t tell at all,” Mitchell said. “He’s still the same guy. Still joking, laughing, camaraderie, like still teaching and still having a good time on the bench and keep supporting, right? I think that’s what makes him special, right? A special human as much as the player. He’s a guy that’s like, ‘Hey, I’m here to help out.’ When the number is called, he’ll be ready.

“And for him to have a young guy like Craig Porter come in and continue to play well and to be right in his ear, giving him the tips to succeed, that’s a sign of an unselfish player, but also unselfish human.”

Atkinson stated that the goal moving forward with Ball is to “reset physically” and ensure that he’s healthy.

“We want him to set his records in games played, right? That’s kind of one of my goals for him,” Atkinson said. “So I knew I was going to try to get him some time here. Then we go to San Antonio, we throw that lineup [with Craig Porter Jr.] in, and it works great. And it’s like, ‘Well, I’m going to keep sticking with it.’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, keep that going.’

“So we’ll see what it looks like going forward. I think it’s going to be mix and match and keep feeling it. But we know we’ve got a guy that’s all about the team. He’ll do whatever we ask, whatever we need.”

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