The red-hot Los Angeles Lakers faced a stiff test on Thursday when they hosted the New York Knicks, a team that, as they have been, is looking to move up into the category of truly elite squads in the NBA. For the majority of the evening, however, it looked like they were being outclassed.
After they took a 30-21 lead late in the first quarter, New York went on a 17-2 run to go up 38-32 with 8:46 to go in the second quarter. New York went up by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, but after it took a 90-80 advantage with 6:57 left in the fourth quarter, the Lakers started to fight back.
The Lakers had been cold from 3-point range throughout the game, but they went on a 19-6 run after trailing 90-80 by hitting five 3-pointers. A three-point play by Jalen Brunson tied the score at 99-all and ended up forcing overtime, and L.A. scored the first five points of the extra period in a hurry.
L.A. then got a gift from the basketball gods when Brunson injured his ankle while getting fouled on a drive to the basket with 1:24 left in overtime. He made both free throws to knot the score at 107 before exiting the court, but the Purple and Gold once again just had too much grit, toughness and fight for their opponents.
They competed hard, especially defensively and on the boards, which resulted in a 113-109 win. They have now improved to 40-21 and hold an eight-game winning streak. The last time they won eight games in a row was during the 2019-20 season, which was also the last time they won the NBA championship.
Dorian Finney-Smith: C-plus
Finney-Smith only made one of his five shot attempts, but as usual, he hustled and helped muck things up for his opponents. He had five rebounds and one steal in 40 minutes, and he has been filling in well in the starting lineup for the injured Rui Hachimura, who suffered a knee injury last Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Jaxson Hayes: B
Hayes worked hard to cut off drives by the Knicks’ guards and wings, and he ended up blocking two shots and grabbing five rebounds. In his spare time, he scored eight points and added three assists, and he used up all six of his fouls in 34 minutes.
Austin Reaves: D
Reaves returned to action after injuring his calf early in Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, but he struggled mightily. He missed each of his first eight shot attempts and didn’t hit his first shot until the 6:48 mark of the third quarter. His only other made field goal came with 2:40 left in overtime when he connected on a 3-pointer that put his team up 107-103.
He didn’t have any assists, but he did have six rebounds to help L.A.’s cause.
Luka Doncic: B-minus
Doncic made each of his first three shots of the game, including two 3-pointers, and four of his first five attempts. But he went 3-of-14 through the rest of regulation and settled too often for 3-pointers.
He did hit a fadeaway jumper and a high-arching contested trey to score the first five points of overtime, however. He also did a good job of drawing fouls throughout the game, which resulted in 12 free throw attempts, 10 of which were successful, for him.
Doncic also made up for his 9-of-23 shooting performance by dishing off 12 assists. The Knicks looked to trap him on the perimeter and put him in a phone booth when he tried to drive the lane, but he was able to get rid of the basketball and hit the open man. Four of his assists came during that 19-6 Los Angeles run that turned things around.
The Slovenian superstar also added seven rebounds and four steals, although he did commit five of the Lakers’ 16 turnovers.
LeBron James: A
While Doncic struggled with his shooting, James thrived from the defensive attention Doncic drew. The 40-year-old worked off the ball for most of the game, which allowed him to attack the basket when he did get the ball. He scored 31 points on 11-of-23 shooting and also provided the team with 12 rebounds, eight assists and one block in 44 minutes.
He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime combined, which included a 3-pointer that tied the game with 1:51 to go in the fourth period and four foul shots in the closing seconds of overtime to ice the game.
Defensively, he spent much of the game guarding Karl-Anthony Towns, and with his help, Towns was held to 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B
In 17 minutes, Vanderbilt was his usual active and aggressive self. He got five rebounds and added two points, two steals and one block while helping the Lakers pick things up on the defensive end and on the boards.
Gabe Vincent: B-plus
When Vincent was matched up against Brunson, he didn’t do a whole lot to slow down the Knicks All-Star starter, who ended up with 39 points and 10 assists. But offensively, he was hot. He scored 12 points and was successful on all four of his 3-point attempts, and three of those treys came during the Lakers’ big 19-6 run down the stretch.
Dalton Knecht: B-plus
Knecht went 4-of-8 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range to score 11 points in 21 minutes. He also helped out on the boards with four rebounds while adding one assist.
Trey Jemison III: B
Jemison competed hard in the 13 minutes he was on the court in this game. He scored seven points while hitting three of his four shot attempts and he also pulled down four rebounds.
