Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball to miss several weeks
Charlotte Hornets leading scorer LaMelo Ball will miss several weeks as he recovers from a right ankle injury.
Ball, 22, played in just 33 games last season because of an injury to his other ankle. He initially sprained his left ankle in pre-season and missed several games at the start of the 2022/23 campaign. Last November, he stepped on a fan sitting in the front row on the sidelines and re-injured the same ankle. In late February, Ball fractured his left ankle and missed the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery.
The Hornets selected Ball with the third overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Ball missed 21 games during his rookie season in 2020-21 with a wrist injury but was still named the NBA Rookie of the Year.
A healthy Ball played 75 games in his second season and was named to the 2022 NBA All-Star team.
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The struggling Hornets ended up keeping their entire roster intact for just one game before Ball sprained his ankle Sunday against the Orlando Magic. Ball needs help off the court. An MRI revealed a strained right ankle.
"It's obviously frustrating," head coach Steve Clifford said. "Last night was the first time in two years that we had a game like this where this was the planned starting lineup. Basically, this was the team I thought I would be coaching. When LaMelo got hurt, we had about fifteen minutes left and three minutes.”
Before Ball was injured, he averaged 24.7 points, 8.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds in his career. He shot 44.3 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3-point range, both career highs.
Combo guard Terry Rozier recently returned to the lineup after missing the past three weeks with a groin injury. Rozier averages 20.4 points per game and will make up for some of the scoring deficit if Ball is sidelined.
Shooting guard Brandon Miller, the second overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, has started nine games this season. Miller averaged 14.4 points per game and shot 37.4% from three-point range. Miller will also get a chance to play a bigger role in the offense.
Clifford will rely on veteran point guard Ish Smith to step up in the coming weeks. Smith signed with the Hornets this offseason and played for a career-record 13th team as a journeyman.
The Hornets also have guards Bryce McGowens, Theo Maledon and James Bouknight on their roster.
"Bryce and Ish are both going to have bigger roles," Clifford added.
Hornets fade without LaMelo
The Hornets won two games in a row before Thanksgiving, including an overtime upset win over the Boston Celtics. Ball finished with 36 points, nine rebounds and eight assists against the best team in the NBA.
The Hornets have lost two games in a row since Ball was injured. They fell to 5-11 after the New York Knicks eliminated them on Tuesday night.
If the season ended today, the Hornets wouldn't even qualify for the Eastern Conference playoffs. They currently rank 12th among the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference. The Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons have lost 14 straight games and are the only teams in the league with fewer wins than the Hornets.
The Hornets have one of the worst betting records in the NBA this season, with a 6-10 point differential. They are 1-5 ATS in their last six games.
The Hornets are fourth in the Southeast Division, 6.5 games behind the first-place Orlando Magic (12-5).
The Miami Heat (10-8) are the -105 favorite to win the Southeast Division, even though guard Tyler Herro has missed the past two weeks with an ankle injury. The Southeast Division is a three-way matchup, with the Magic (+200) and Atlanta Hawks (+300) vying for the division title against the Heat.
The Hornets (+30,000) and Wizards (+60,000) have a good chance to win the Southeast.
The Hornets are ranked last in the DraftKings NBA Futures Committee with +100,000 odds to win the 2023-24 NBA Championship. They are tied with the Pistons, Wizards, Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs for the longest moonshot streak in history.
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