Before tonight, the New York Knicks (40-22) had won all five overtime opportunities, and the Los Angeles Lakers (40-21) had won seven straight games. One of those streaks would come to an end tonight at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers started strong, but Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart fought back. By halftime, New York had flipped a nine-point deficit to lead by nine, thanks to OG Anunoby’s brilliant second quarter and L.A.’s follies. The Knicks held a slim lead until late, and, after a frantic finish and a missed buzzer-beater, went to overtime. In the extra period, Brunson rolled his ankle badly, the purple and gold capitalized at the line, and the Knicks lost in overtime for the first time this season, 113-109.
Quoth TheMrBadGuy: “And JB is hurt. Wonderful.” It stings to lose another one that should have been in hand with some competent game management; it hurts even worse to lose the Captain for the foreseeable future. Just at the start of a five-game road trip, too. Say your prayers, Knicks fans.
Jalen finished with 39 points and 10 assists on 13-of-26 shooting. Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns had double-doubles, 18-10 and 12-14 respectively. KAT was a ghost late, though. OG finished with 20 points, but just seven in the second half. And Mikal Bridges scored six points in 43 minutes. Folks, come on.
For Los Angeles, Luka Doncic finished with 32 points, 12 assists, and seven boards. LeBron James had 31 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists. Read the rest in the box score, I’m going to bed.
The Lakers enjoyed a 7-0 run in the first quarter to gain some distance. From there, New York pecked at the score, but L.A. would respond with a rebound and a Luka bucket to stay ahead. Poor shooting didn’t help our heroes. Both teams attempted eight three-pointers, but L.A. made three and New York just one. Brunson and Hart carried the load, combining to score all of New York’s first 17 points. Meanwhile, their cohorts shot 0-of-7.
At times early on, Hart looked banged up against his former team, taking long pauses to steady himself during breaks in the action. The camera caught him telling coach Thibs, “I’m good.” He wasn’t lying. As the action progressed, Hart chased down loose balls and skied for rebounds with customary Josh aplomb. His BFF, Captain Clutch, canned a jumper as the clock expired to cut the Lakers’ lead, 31-27. Jalen led all scorers with 14 points so far. Laker Luka had 13.
To start the second period, Landry Shamet and Hart hit triples to give the Knicks their first lead. An 11-1 run had put them up 38-32. OG Anunoby, playing with a sprained thumb, shot perfectly to score 13 in the second and balance out the offensive attack. Not necessarily helping: Mikal Bridges, with four first-half points on 2-of-5 shooting.
Behold OG at his most brilliant, executing on both ends:
With L.A. turning the ball over (nine times in the half) and going 0-of-8 from deep in the frame, New York pushed the pace and gained a 13-point lead. By intermission, they were ahead 60-51. Jalen Brunson had scored 16 points and six assists. For L.A., Austin Reaves had missed all six of his shot attempts. LeBron James had 16 points and Luka added 18. The latter collected a technical foul for chirping at the refs and continued to test their patience. Will he get tossed in the second half? Is the universe granting favors tonight?
Luka kept plowing toward a triple-double, while Brunson crept closer to a double-double of his own. LeBron continued to defy Father Time. Anunoby stayed locked in on defense, though his shot cooled. Reaves kept denting the rim with bricks.
The home team had turned it over 13 times by quarter’s end. A 7-0 run looked promising, but the Knicks closed out strong. After a Dalton Knecht buzzer-beater, New York headed into the final frame up 84-76.
The play became more bruising and sloppy as the game progressed. The refs didn’t seem to notice. With New York playing the Clippers tomorrow night, I fear that half the team will be on the injury report. In the final frame, they looked increasingly gassed. Bench support would have helped, Deuce McBride had logged 19 points and missed all four shots he had taken.
Three Luka assists hurt: the first was a Gabe Vincent corner three; the second was a Jaxson Hayes dunk; the third was a LeBron trey. After those buckets, the Knicks lead had slimmed to one point with 3:30 left.
Hart and Vincent traded three-pointers. Jalen Brunson made a shot despite getting stomped by Lebron, who then tied the game with a bomb.
Los Angeles went up by three with another Vincent corner shot, but Captain Clutch executed an And-1 to tie the game with 30 seconds left.
LeBron and Dorian Finney-Smith missed on treys, and New York retrieved the ball with nine seconds to go. After a timeout, Jalen Brunson was heavily covered—as anyone could have predicted—but struggled to find anyone open. Finally, he dumped the ball to Hart, who couldn’t reach the rim in time. Bonus basketball!
To start the fifth period, Luka went at Karl-Anthony Towns to score, obviously, and then followed that with a trey. Brunson responded with four points, but Austin Reaves suddenly remembered how to shoot, drilling one from the corner. Jalen, responsible for all six of the Knicks’ points so far, rolled his ankle on an unsuccessful drive and was clearly in agony.
Eventually, he limped to the free-throw line, but could barely do so. The Captain made both freebies, then was subbed out with a quick foul.
Jaxson Hayes made two free throws. Towns committed a loose ball foul after a McBride miss, with the team in the penalty. Down by four with 40 seconds left, the Knicks played hot potato under the pressure of purple and gold defense. Anunoby finally chipped it in and had a chance for an And-1, but missed. LeBron grabbed the board, was fouled, and that was all she wrote.
The Knicks stay in L.A. for another night to face the Clippers tomorrow. Rest up, Knickerbockers.
Box Score