The Los Angeles Lakers took on the New York Knicks in their second game of the Las Vegas Summer League on Wednesday night, looking for their second straight win.
With the new Summer League rules, there are no playoffs and only two teams make the championship, so you essentially have to go undefeated to have a chance at hoisting the trophy.
Unfortunately for the Lakers though, they fell to a Knicks team that featured a number of lottery and first-round picks by a score of 91-82.
The Lakers came into this one still on a high off of Austin Reaves’ game-winning putback in their first game in Las Vegas. They got off to a slow start in this one, however, as Knicks 2020 lottery pick Obi Toppin had five early points to give New York an 8-0 lead.
L.A., whose entire roster is undrafted players, scratched and clawed their way back though, as they have in their two previous games. Trevelin Queen led the way offensively with eight first-half points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting, while Chaundee Brown was the leader defensively with a number of hustle plays.
The Knicks went on another run to end the first half though and took a 40-33 lead into the locker room.
Second-half deficits are no stranger to this Lakers team as they have erased those to win each of their last two games. They do so again in this one, battling back to take the lead late in the third quarter.
While Reaves and Mac McClung, the two heroes from the last game, got off to slow starts for the Lakers, they both came alive in the fourth to keep their team in the game.
It was the Knicks’ 3-point shooting that kept them in it, particularly second-round pick Miles McBride, who worked out for the Lakers in the pre-draft process. He finished with 22 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from deep.
The Lakers also couldn’t stop Immanuel Quickley from getting to the hole as the second-year guard led all scorers with 25.
Devontae Cacok had another solid game for the Lakers in the loss with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while Vic Law also had 14 and Queen had 13 off the bench.
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