LaMelo, LiAngelo Ball Combine for 78 Points in 171-140 JBA Win vs. Philadelphia

LiAngelo Ball made his Junior Basketball Association debut with brother LaMelo Ball and the Los Angeles Ballers on Thursday night, and he made a strong first impression as he led his team to a 171-140 victory over the Philadelphia Ballers.

It should come as no surprise it was the Gelo show in Ontario, California.

He got off to a slow start, missing his first three shot attempts while committing a pair of early turnovers. From there, though, he caught fire.

With Melo and Co. feeding him the ball, Gelo went off for 21 points in the first quarter. Not only that, but he also had three assists, one block and one steal in the opening period.

And while his older brother was lighting up the scoreboard, Melo was showing off his highlight-reel passing abilities:

It wasn't until midway through the second that he got his first points of the night, and he did so in style, as he threw a pass off the backboard to himself and slammed it home.

Gelo took a shot to the face in the opening minute of the second and found himself bloodied, but he didn't let that stop him from getting buckets. He added 10 points in the second to give him a game-high 31 heading into the break.

Meanwhile, Melo (six points, nine rebounds and 11 assists) flirted with a triple-double in the first half. 

It didn't take long for him to complete the task after the game's midway point, and from that point on, the Ballers put the finishing touches on their blowout victory.

Gelo finished with 53 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, two steals and one block, while Melo posted 25 points, 19 assists, 17 rebounds and four steals.

Despite filling up the stat sheet, Gelo has plenty of room for improvement. As the score indicates, there was little defense played, which led to plenty of easy layups for the older Ball. When it came time to show off his range, though, he struggled, shooting just 4-of-18 from beyond the arc. 

Gelo initially told Nice Kicks that he wouldn't play in the JBA because it would be a "step back." But after he went undrafted and no NBA team gave him a summer-league shot, the L.A. Ballers gave him a chance to show teams what he can do—and he made the most of his first opportunity.