Pelicans reaction: Lonzo Ball takes over late in thrilling win over Pacers

The Indiana Pacers caught fire from long-range in the fourth quarter on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but thanks to a sensational second-half performance from Lonzo Ball, the New Orleans Pelicans held on for a 114-113 win in a thriller.

The Pelicans controlled the first half and led by as many as 18 points with three minutes left in the third quarter, but the Pacers hit a barrage of 3-pointers and eventually took the lead in the fourth. Led by Ball, who hit a number of clutch shots in the fourth, the Pelicans and Pacers traded threes in a wild final few minutes, and it was a strong defensive play from Ball that sealed the win.

With the Pacers down one with less than 15 second to play, Ball ran off his man and met Myles Turner at the rim to contest a potential game-winning shot. Turner missed, the Pelicans grabbed the rebound and left Indy with a 114-113 victory.

Here’s the good, the bad and the Lonzo Ball from Friday night.

The good: Brandon Ingram's efficiency

Brandon Ingram asserted himself early in the first half offensively, and along with Zion Williamson, set a tone early for the Pelicans as New Orleans built and maintained an early lead. Ingram finished the game with 30 points on 12-of-21 shooting, including a few beautiful fallaway jumpers, and had seven assists and six rebounds. Ingram is trying to make his second consecutive All-Star team in 2021, and with performances like that he should be a lock. https://twitter.com/FOXSportsNOLA/status/1357880158762500097

The bad: A near-collapse

A loss on Friday would have been absolutely heartbreaking, as the Pelicans didn't necessarily play poorly in the fourth quarter to allow the Pacers back into the game - Indiana simply shot the lights out from deep (hitting 20 of their 42 attempts for the game, good for 47.6 percent). Still, when you're up 18 with 15 minutes left to play, you don't want to be squeaking by with one-point wins.

The Ball: When in doubt, shoot

As our own Jacob Rude noted on Twitter, Lonzo has been a different player since the trade rumors have been surfacing this season. He entered this game shooting 44.7 percent from three recently, and he almost single-handedly saved the Pelicans from a brutal loss with his output in the fourth quarter. https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA/status/1357879377778724864 Ball had a particularly interesting sequence at the 8-minute mark in the fourth. After hitting a three to put New Orleans up eight, Ball had a wide-open look at another long ball on the very next possession - but passed out of the shot while in the air and turned the ball over. Fortunately, Ball let it fly the rest of the game - and posted 18-second half points, going 4-for-4 from behind the arc in the final period. He's in a zone, and needs to keep shooting with confidence.