The Los Angeles Lakers looked to continue their strong road trip on Saturday night when they rolled into Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks. Given all of the storylines surrounding this game, it was the most expensive NBA regular-season ticket in nearly a decade.
The Knicks were one of the hottest teams in the league coming into this one, and that continued as they pulled away in the second half to earn a 112-100 win.
L.A. made it a point to get Deandre Ayton going early with a pair of buckets inside, and then LeBron James scored five straight points to take an early lead. Similarly, OG Anunoby had it working for the Knicks with eight points, including a pair of triples, to quickly take the lead back.
Luka Doncic got off to a slow start, but it didn’t take him long to get going with a pair of 3-pointers and a lob to Rui Hachimura. Coming off the bench, Hachimura made his first three shots and the Lakers led 33-27 at the end of the first quarter.
After the Lakers extended their lead to nine, the Knicks responded with two triples to stay within striking distance.
L.A.’s offense cooled down in the second quarter as there were a number of missed jumpers and free throws. Their zone defense helped cool down New York too though and the Lakers were able to take a 56-52 lead into the halftime locker room.
It wasn’t a great start to the third quarter for the Lakers as they had some careless turnovers and the Knicks took advantage to regain the lead. L.A. was also struggling on the defensive glass, forcing JJ Redick to use a quick timeout.
The Lakers had a nice response after that with Gabe Vincent and Doncic hitting 3s to lead an 8-0 run after the Knicks went up by six.
This time, it was the Knicks that responded with another run, getting out in transition and catching fire from deep to take an 90-82 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Lakers and Knicks have been two of the best fourth-quarter teams in the NBA this season, so something had to give in this one.
Ultimately, the Lakers’ lack of shotmaking came back to haunt them. Their role players continued to miss open looks while the Knicks mostly converting, stretching their lead to double digits heading into the final stretch.
There was no comeback to be had for L.A. as the wheels came completely off and the final score looked worse than the game would indicate.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will close out their road trip on Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets before returning home and hosting the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
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