LaMelo Ball reached a career milestone early Monday night, and he did it while giving the Timberwolves exactly the kind of start they needed.
Ball entered the matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks needing three more made 3-pointers to hit 1,000 for his career, and he got there in the first four minutes. Along the way, he scored 11 of Minnesota’s first 15 points and gave the offense an immediate jolt.
The milestone made Ball just the 188th player in NBA history to reach 1,000 made triples. Given the injury interruptions that have followed him in recent seasons, it’s a mark that might have come much sooner under different circumstances.
Ball’s path to Minnesota has already been a major storyline. He arrived in the blockbuster offseason trade that sent him from the Charlotte Hornets to the Timberwolves, and the early returns haven’t been smooth. Before Monday’s game, he was averaging 14.4 points and 6.3 assists per contest while shooting 39.5% from the field in his new home.
Still, with Anthony Edwards out for the foreseeable future, the Timberwolves need Ball to carry more of the load. Against Milwaukee, he looked ready for that role from the opening minutes.
The matchup also set up well for him. Minnesota was at home, and the Bucks came in ranked 27th in defensive rating, a combination that gave Ball a chance to settle in and find a rhythm.
His career numbers tell the other half of the story. After playing relatively healthy through his first two seasons, Ball was limited to 36 games in 2022-23 and 22 in 2023-24. He appeared in just 47 games in the 2024-25 season as well.
That injury history was part of why Charlotte was willing to move on after he played 72 games last season. The Hornets clearly didn’t want to hinge the franchise’s future on the uncertainty around his ankle issues.
Minnesota, though, sees him differently. The Timberwolves believe he can be the missing piece, and the real measure of that will come once the roster is back at full strength.
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