Lonzo Ball Struggles with Shot, Has 5 Turnovers as Lakers Lose to Jazz

Rookie Lonzo Ball had another inconsistent shooting night Saturday, as the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Utah Jazz 96-81 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.

Ball made just three of his 10 attempts from the field, including three of six shots from three-point range for nine points.

He added four assists, two rebounds and two steals to go along with a team-high five turnovers.

Ball has now finished with less than 10 points in five of his six career games and has failed to get to the free-throw line in consecutive contests.

The Lakers now sit at 2-4 on the season, while the Jazz improved to 3-3.

Ball's two rebounds were his least in a game this season, and his four assists were tied for the least he has recorded in a single contest.

For as much as Ball's shot was off Saturday, his biggest issues may have been on the defensive end, as evidenced by a minus-19 rating.

Ball defended Ricky Rubio for much of the night, who finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Also, Ball was matched up with Jazz rookie guard Donovan Mitchell at various points, and he put up a game-high 22 points in 27 minutes off the bench.

The Jazz tweeted the following video of Mitchell working Ball over on the offensive end for two points in the third quarter:

Mitchell also took to the skies for a putback slam, which left Ball as nothing more than a spectator:

Although Ball's shooting left plenty to be desired, he didn't receive much help from his teammates in terms of making shots from beyond the arc.

As pointed out by Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype, Ball made three trifectas before any of his teammates made one, and he actually improved significantly from long range compared to recent games:

"

Entering this game, Lonzo had missed 12 of last 13 threes. Tonight, he's 3-4 from three but his teammates are 0-9. The slump was contagious!

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) October 29, 2017"

The Lakers finished the game 5-of-22 from downtown, and they shot just 38.3 percent from the floor as a whole.

Ball even struggled in terms of his playmaking, which has usually been the one constant during the infancy of his NBA career.

The No. 2 overall pick out of UCLA did have one highlight-reel pass, though, to Brandon Ingram from half court in the third quarter, as evidenced by this video from Spectrum SportsNet:

"

.@ZO2_ with the half-court dime to @B_Ingram13#LakeShow pic.twitter.com/v4vTygH15V

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 29, 2017"

Utah is a team often lauded for its defensive excellence, and that was on full display with Ball and most of his teammates failing to find any type of offensive rhythm.

Ball's next opportunity to get back on track will come on Halloween night when he and the Lakers host the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.