Shooting struggles from the Lakers’ role players and a poor third quarter were too much to overcome in Madison Square Garden on Sunday as the Knicks downed LA 112-100.
The purple and gold led for stretches of the game, but a run in the third period for New York moved them ahead by double digits and forced the Lakers to play catch-up. The trio of Jake LaRavia, Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt highlighted the shooting struggles as they combined to go 4-20 from the field and 2-13 from three.
Luka Dončić
opened the game with a layup, but the Knicks followed with consecutive 3-pointers. Deandre Ayton then responded with four straight points of his own. OG Anunoby led New York with five points. LeBron James notched a quick five points, heating up for LA.
At the 7:38 mark, Los Angeles was up by three.
Defense was becoming an issue for the Lakers as they continued to leave Anunoby alone from behind the arc, where he drained two of his three attempts. Luka knocked down two 3-pointers in response, though. Rui Hachimura also had seven points off the bench for LA.
Los Angeles was up by six, going into the second period.
The second quarter began with Hachimura converting on a layup for the Lakers. Mohamed Diawara then drained a triple for the Knicks. The three-ball was flying for New York as they converted on three of them in the early part of the period. Luka countered with a 3-pointer of his own.
At the seven-minute mark, LA was up by six.
Tyler Kolek scored eight points for New York, helping them take the lead. Los Angeles kept failing defensively, leaving shooters wide open. As a result, the Knicks were shooting 44% from behind the arc in this half.
The Lakers responded well, stopping New York’s momentum and retaking a four-point halftime lead.
LA missed their first shot attempt of the second half, while Jalen Brunson scored on a midrange jumper for the Knicks. Josh Hart was then fouled while taking a jumper and converted on the three-point play to put New York up by one. Jake LaRavia finally got on the scoreboard with a triple. The teams traded the lead until the Knicks jumped ahead by five.
New York added some cushion to its lead thanks to four points from Mikal Bridges.
It started to look like the usual third-quarter Lakers were showing up until an 8-0 scoring run led by Hachimura, Vincent and Luka put LA in the lead.
The Knicks then countered with a 6-0 scoring run to move back ahead. New York knocked down three 3-pointers to take an eight-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
LeBron began the final frame with a shot in the paint. Bridges then scored on a layup on the other end. Los Angeles started to chip away at the deficit, making it four and forcing a Knicks timeout.
Out of the break, Hart knocked down a 3-pointer.
Los Angeles went cold from the field, hindering their ability to chip away at the deficit. Luckily for the Lakers, New York was missing their shots as well, but eventually found a rhythm, scoring seven points to open up its biggest lead.
At the 3:55 mark, the purple and gold were down by double digits.
Landry Shamet’s sixth 3-pointer of the night put the final blow in an ugly second half defensively for the Lakers. He was left wide open for nearly all 10 of his attempts from behind the arc.
Key Player Stats
Luka finished with 30 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. LeBron scored 22 points with five rebounds and six assists. Ayton pitched in with 13 points and five rebounds.
Hachimura notched 11 points off the bench. Vincent ended with eight points, hitting three of his five shots.
The Lakers’ next matchup will be against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday at 4:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
