The Los Angeles Lakers have followed up their season-high four-game winning streak with a two-game losing skid, and the team is still winless (0-8) without Lonzo Ball in the lineup. The Lakers are looking to break both of those trends Friday when they take on the Indiana Pacers.
The Lakers’ struggles without Ball are finally starting to get backed up by statistics rather than just the eye test, which has shown since the start of the season how integral the rookie point guard already is to the style, speed and defense with which the team plays.
Of Lakers players to log more than 50 minutes this season, Ball has the best net rating, as the team is only outscored by 1.