Making sense of Lonzo Ball’s lack of fourth quarter playing time

An interesting early-season trend for the Los Angeles Lakers is Lonzo Ball and his lack of playing time in the fourth quarter of close games.

Lineups in the NBA vary in the closing minutes of games. Coaches opt for matchups, revert to their starting five or ride the hot hands as the clock winds down. The Los Angeles Lakers are no different as they rotate players around the duo of LeBron James and Brandon Ingram. A player that’s omitted frequently from these five-man lineups is young guard Lonzo Ball.

This trend continued in their 108-104 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday. The Lakers stormed back in the final frame, but ultimately saw their comeback fall short. Ball didn’t appear in the fourth, playing 28 minutes in total while piling up nine points, 10 rebounds and a pair of assists. His shooting numbers weren’t bad, going 4-of-9 from the field and 1-for-2 on 3-point attempts.

Head coach Luke Walton opted for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope over Lonzo with LeBron and Ingram operating as the main ball-handlers. KCP rewarded Walton with solid defense, but was an abysmal 1-for-7 from the field (1-for-4 on 3-pointers) with two of his misses coming in the final 1:23 of game time on attempts to give the Lakers the lead.

Walton has chosen Josh Hart, Rajon Rondo and now KCP over Lonzo in fourth quarters. The Lakers head coach stated he had intentions of bringing Zo into the game, but liked what KCP was bringing to the game in terms of energy and defense (66.7 defensive rating in this fourth quarter). KCP does play hard and improved as a shooter last season, but Lonzo is the future and offers everything KCP does with a higher IQ and better passing.

This isn’t a straight indictment on Caldwell-Pope. It’s just a weird trend that has been developing all season. Lonzo ranks eighth on the Lakers in terms of total minutes played in the fourth quarter, not playing in four of them. Rajon Rondo has missed eight games this season and only played five fewer minutes than Lonzo. Garbage time may be a factor, but Lance Stephenson has played seven more minutes than Zo. KCP has played 28 more minutes. Josh Hart is second on the team and 40 minutes clear of Ball.

Having two ball-dominant players like LeBron and Ingram would normally push a point guard to the bench in favor of 3-and-D wings, which is clearly what is happening here. But Ball is an unique guard. He doesn’t care for the ball much. He’s better cutting, setting screens and doing the little things than he is creating for himself.

His jump shot has been heavily criticized, but Lonzo is shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from deep in fourth quarters. He has more assists and fewer turnovers than both Hart and KCP in a lot less minutes. Lonzo plays great defense, whether it’s picking up guards full-court, reading passing lanes or grabbing rebounds to start the break.

The Los Angeles Lakers have had struggles closing out games all season. They’ve squandered leads and have had to regroup in the closing minutes just to hold on for victories. Playing their best players and maintaining their fast pace of play would be a great place to start. The Lakers’ pace dips to 98.21 in the closing quarter. The game slows down in the final frame, but that is too low for a team that prides itself on scoring in transition.

Lonzo Ball is a vital cog in this Lakers team. LeBron commented on the young guard starting to figure out how great he is after their Nov. 23 win over the Utah Jazz. Lonzo is far from a finished product, but his IQ, calmness and skill-set are all assets in fourth quarters. We will see if he is glossed over in future fourth quarters, but it’s been one of the few early-season trends that stands out for the Los Angeles Lakers.