The Lakers picked up their biggest win of the season, leading wire-to-wire against the Knicks on Sunday afternoon to come away with a 110-97 victory.
LA turned to its defense to get the win, holding the Knicks to 42.2% shooting from the field and 23.5% shooting from deep. LA also held its own in the paint, scoring 15 second-chance points to New York’s nine.
The game began with Austin Reaves scoring five in a row. The Knicks missed their first seven shots, but Josh Hart scored on two possessions thereafter
to stop their drought.
Luka Dončić scored on a triple and threw a lob to Deandre Ayton for the slam. At the 7:36 mark, Los Angeles was up by seven.
Rui Hachimura provided a nice spark with seven points. Landry Shamet surged for New York with five points off the bench. Luka, as per usual, was the first Laker in double figures with 10 points.
The rest of the quarter saw both teams getting to the charity stripe a few times. Mitchell Robinson threw down a slam. Luke Kennard drained a 3-pointer for the Lakers to give them an eight-point lead at the end of the first.
Karl-Anthony Towns opened the second by being sent to the line where he converted both free throws. He also connected on a jumper, scoring the first four points of the quarter for the Knicks. Jake LaRavia and Reaves combined for six points to keep Los Angeles in control amidst the sudden New York surge.
At the 8:54 mark, the purple and gold were up by six.
Hachimura was a perfect 4-4 from the field, including two triples. LA’s defensive effort was exceptional in the quarter with Jarred Vanderbilt, Maxi Kleber and Marcus Smart forcing the Knicks to miss shots and fumble the ball.
New York suddenly surged on a 7-0 run after Los Angeles went cold offensively with seven missed field goals in a row. Reaves converted on four free throws to give them some cushion on their lead amidst their struggles. Their scoring drought was seven minutes, with the only points being free throws from Reaves and Luka.
Reaves beat the second quarter buzzer with a shot off the glass to stop the rough scoring drought. Still, the Knicks closed the half on a 16-8 scoring run, but it was Los Angeles up by five at halftime.
KAT opened the third period with a dunk for New York. Ayton slammed it on the other end for the Lakers. Jalen Brunson then knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a two-point deficit.
LA quickly responded with four points in a row. Reaves was leading Los Angeles with 19 points. Luka launched an insane one-legged triple that went in, extending the lead to nine for the purple and gold.
Hachimura was now at 13 points after draining his third triple of the game. Both teams were shooting better than 40% from the field. New York’s rough 21% outing from behind the arc, however, was the blessing for Los Angeles.
At the 4:48 mark, the Lakers were up by 12.
LA put together a 7-0 scoring run, five of those coming from Luka. Jake LaRavia was putting in a good performance off the bench with four points, four rebounds and three assists. His defensive effort was also giving the team extra opportunities.
Going into the fourth quarter, Los Angeles was up by 19.
Kennard started the final frame by completing a four-point play, further extending the lead. Brunson scored on a jumper on the other end for the Knicks. After a triple from Reaves, New York responded with a 12-2 run, cutting LA’s lead to 13.
Luka scored on a jumper to stop some of the bleeding. He also drew a charge on KAT on the other end.
New York cut Los Angeles’s lead to 11 as both teams played sloppily and all over the place with 4:08 left in the game. The Lakers were shooting 25% from the field in this quarter, while the Knicks were shooting 61%.
LA missed 10 field goals in a row until Luka converted on a layup. KAT responded with a 3-pointer on the other end.
Threes from Luke Kennard and Luka in the final 90 seconds sandwiched a KAT three-point play and iced the game away for the Lakers.
Key Player Stats
Luka finished with 35 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Reaves returned to form with 25 points, four rebounds and five assists. Hachimura pitched in with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Ayton had six points with eight rebounds and two blocks. Smart had an adventurous game, finishing 1-10 from the field, but also leading the team in plus-minus at +27.
Kennard notched 12 points off the bench. LaRavia scored six points with four rebounds, three of those offensive.
The Lakers’ next matchup will be against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday at 8:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
