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Hornets see a new side of LaMelo Ball. He ‘damn near told coach’ to keep him on the bench

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball walks the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Anyone who didn’t actually watch the Charlotte Hornets’ matchup with Brooklyn might peek at the boxscore online, searching for the finer details.

Queries centering around how the Hornets took the Nets apart calls for further explanation, particularly after a gander at the number sitting next to LaMelo Ball’s name. No, not the 18 points, 6 rebounds or 5 assists. Nope, we aren’t talking about how he engineered a key stretch following halftime, when he was directly responsible for 70.6% of the Hornets’ offense during the first seven minutes and change of the third quarter.

This involves the four zeroes in the minutes played column in the fourth quarter, which upon a quick glimpse likely sent someone not privy to the details straight to the internet searching to figure out if Ball was injured in the Hornets’ 111-95 victory on Sunday. There was a reason Ish Smith was on the floor for all but the final 47 seconds, coming out only when the benches were emptied since the result of their franchise-record third consecutive victory to begin the season had been secured.

“Melo damn near told Coach,” Miles Bridges said, “he told Coach, he was like, ‘Leave him in the game.’”

See, Smith was wowing the Barclays Center crowd with some ankle-breaking moves, freeing himself up for uncontested jumpers or to distribute the ball to his teammates. He poured in 11 of his 15 points, recorded four assists and, yes, even a block in the fourth quarter.

Ball purposely got reduced to a cheerleader. And loved every second of it.

“Melo, I’ve got to give Melo a ton of credit,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “He wanted us … He said, ‘Just ride out Ish. Ish is hot, Ish is rolling. I trust it. Let’s go.’ And that’s just maturity on his part. He could have easily wanted to get back in that one, but Ish delivered tonight. Second half, big shots, big plays, both sides of the ball, big block on the other end defensively. So you’ve got to give Ish a ton of credit.”

Think about it: How many 20-year-olds with that kind of crowd-drawing power, playing well on that particular occasion, have the backbone to say such a thing? This is the same guy who was chatting it up with Jay Z during halftime warmpus. Ball is the definition of a megastar in the making.

Yet, he was cool with taking a seat. In crunch time. Against a championship contender.

“That’s maturity,” said Bridges, who’s as close with Ball as anybody on the team. “Melo wouldn’t have done that last year, but I think his main goal for the whole year is just to win. So as long as he’s being mature and we all keep being mature, we are going to keep winning.”

That unselfishness is something Smith could appreciate.

“I’ve been in the league 12 years and I would have done the same for anybody,” he said. “But Melo is our guy. He’s been leading us these last three games. That says a lot about who he is and, hopefully, as a team, we would all do the same. But it’s going to trickle down because he’s our leader. And for him to do that it’s going to trickle down on all of us to do the same.”

In a sense it did. Bridges led the Hornets in scoring for the second straight game, tossing in 30 points. He noted how Borrego inserted Gordon Hayward for him in the fourth quarter, something he was completely fine with.

Remember, this is also happening without their main vocal leader and the guy who’s been their top scorer for the better portion of his previous two seasons. But with Terry Rozier’s sprained right ankle causing him to miss a second game — sandwiched around him giving it a go in his native Cleveland on Friday — the Hornets still didn’t skip too much of a beat offensively.

“It’s big,” Bridges said. “You can feel a different vibe from this year. We just have a willingness to win. We all want to win and we are willing to do whatever it takes. … So that’s big. That just shows where our growth is.

“So we’ve got trust in each other and that just shows a lot about us.”