John Wall said the Ball family couldn't back up their talk, but it was the other way around Wednesday.
The Washington Wizards lost 102-99 in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Wall went one-on-one against Lonzo Ball with a chance to tie, but his awkward leaning 3-pointer rimmed out.
Right move by Lonzo to let Wall go left (this time), minimized passing lane to Beal. Still, incredibly terrible decision by Wall. pic.twitter.com/24syT3ih58
— Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) October 26, 2017
Ball forced Wall to go left on the last play, away from his favored right hand, and he was evidently uncomfortable with the shot as he twisted his body trying to draw a foul instead of going straight up. Wall also looked off Bradley Beal - who scored a game-high 28 points - who was wide open in the corner.
Wall, who vowed to show "no mercy" against Ball after bristling at comments from LaVar Ball, finished with 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting and was a minus-14 in 41 minutes. He made just one basket after the third quarter.
Lonzo also shot a poor percentage, going 2-of-11, but he was a plus-13 and found Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with a picture-perfect pass for the game-winning shot. He added eight rebounds and 10 assists in the win on just one turnover.
A war of words between LaVar and the Wizards set the stage for a much-anticipated showdown that lived up to the hype. LaVar promised that Lonzo wouldn't lose two in a row, which evidently irked the Wizards.
Marcin Gortat laughed off LaVar's proclamation and promised that Wall would "torture" Lonzo. Wall then followed up on those comments by slamming LaVar for his outspoken antics.
Lonzo, as usual, maintained a low profile, and let his game do the talking.
