Lakers News: Lonzo Ball, Luke Walton Comment on Season-Opening Loss to Clippers

Following Thursday's season-opening 108-92 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball and head coach Luke Walton commented on the outing. 

When asked about his performance, Ball offered a response steeped in disappointment, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times: "We got blown out, so I didn't play too well." 

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft finished with just three points in his NBA debut to go along with nine rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block.

While Ball struggled, Walton felt he didn't receive enough help from his teammates, per Ganguli: "He made the right pass eight, nine times. We missed layups. We missed open threes. That's not on Zo."

The Lakers shot 40.7 percent from the field, including only a 25.0 percent clip from three-point range, and 60.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Walton made some interesting choices regarding his starting lineup, as Larry Nance Jr. and Luol Deng got starting nods and the likes of Julius Randle, Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Clarkson coming off the bench.

The Lakers head coach said after the game that the team was in a difficult situation since Ball and center Brook Lopez didn't get to play together in training camp due to injuries, plus guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope didn't play Thursday due to suspension. Walton noted there was a lack of continuity, according to Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet.

Ball is already being looked to as the spark plug of L.A.'s offensive attack, and the fact that he was unable to find a rhythm was a major factor in the team's struggles as a whole.

The former UCLA standout finished just 1-of-6 from the field and missed both of his attempts from the charity stripe.

Ball was dogged by Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley for much of the night, and per ESPN Stats & Info, he got off just three shot attempts on the 29 plays that saw Beverley cover him.

Beverley is one of the best perimeter defenders in the game and is a two-time All-Defensive Team selection, which suggests Ball may have more room to operate against less rugged opponents moving forward.

Ball and the Lakers will have a chance to get on track Friday when they face a Phoenix Suns team that was crushed 124-76 by the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.

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