On Sunday, Lonzo Ball had his best game of the season on the defensive end of the court, nabbing five steals in the Pelicans’ stingiest performance of the brief season. For the second time in three games, New Orleans held an opponent under 100 points with the Pelicans winning both contests, including Sunday’s against the Spurs by a final of 98-95.

After the game, Josh Hart, guard and longtime teammate of Ball’s, spoke highly of his impact on the game.

“He did a great job,” he said. “He was in the passing lanes especially late in that third quarter, early in that fourth when they went zone and our offense was a little stagnant and we weren’t getting buckets like we were before. He did a great job of getting in the passing lane, getting us easy baskets and really helped us during that time. Obviously, offensively we weren’t putting as many points up but he made key plays, key steals, key deflections to get us easy baskets. It starts with him. It starts on the ball.”

More than just complimenting his performance on the night, Hart continued by talking about how impactful Ball can be defensively every night and the need for he and his fellow Pelican teammates to hold their point guard accountable.

“When he’s locked in, when he’s engaged, he’s an amazing defender and we saw today and that’s something that we have to expect from him every night,” Hart said. “We have to hold him accountable when he’s not doing those things. He’s a special guy with an amazing talent of athleticism, instinct and those types of things. He was amazing for us today.”

Ball has had a strong start to the year, beginning in the preseason and carrying over into the opening games of the regular season. While much of the talk has been on his reformed shot and change in mindset on the offensive end, his work on the defensive end has been equally impressive under Stan Van Gundy this season.