LaMelo Ball claimed a share of an unwanted NBA record as his 44-point haul failed to prevent the Charlotte Hornets from suffering a 95-84 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday. (More Sports News)
Ball became the third-yo🅰ungest player in NBA history to sink 50 points and record 10 assists in a sin♐gle game on Saturday, yet Charlotte were still beaten 125-119 by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 23-year-old endured moඣre bad fortune on Monday, as his 44 points, nine rebounds and seven assists came in another defeat to the Magic.
Ball shot 17 of 30 and 4 of 11 from 3-point range but the Magic still snap⛎ped Charlotte's four-game winning streak on home turf, dropping them 🤪to 6-11 for this season.
He now has 94 points, 14 rebounds and 17 as💜sists across his last two games ▨but has lost both.
The only other player in NBA history to manage at least as many points, r✨ebounds and assists in a two-game span but lose both is the legendary Wilt Chamberlain, who did so on February 12 and 13, 1963 (97 points, 61 rebounds, 18 assists).
Despite Ball's herculean ⛦effort, Hornets coach Charles Lee criticised the incons🌳istency of his team's offensive play after the defeat.
"I thought defensively, our guys did a r𒁏eally good job of executing the gameplan," he said.
"To give up 95 points when we’re fouling towards the end of the game, I think🧸 it shows the effort, the competitiveness and the🐬 togetherness.
"Offensively, we got ourselves in trouble with some of our turnovers🍷. Most of it is self-inflicted again and things that we can co❀ntrol.
"I'll give credit to Orlando for their length and activity on our d🐻rives, but I would love to see us fix some of our trans𒆙ition turnovers that we had."
The Hornets are back in action versus the Miami Heat on Wednesday, with the N🍌ew York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks their next opponents as they play three games in as many days.
