LeBron James led the Lakers with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists to help end the Knicks’ nine-game winning streak.
The Lakers know all too well that a team playing without a couple of its best players shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Just two days removed from beating the league-best Boston Celtics at TD Garden without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers knew the short-handed New York Knicks, who were without their second- and third-leading scorers in Julius Randle (shoulder) and OG Anunoby (elbow), shouldn’t be underestimated.
And that’s how they treated Saturday night’s matchup, beating the Knicks 113-105 at Madison Square Garden after holding the Knicks scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the final quarter.
“It was a great, great team effort,” coach Darvin Ham said. “Last couple games, we said to ourselves, we need to get back to a defensive mindset, get back to getting stops. We were able to do that.”
LeBron James led the Lakers with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Austin Reaves, who made his Madison Square Garden debut, scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth, including making all four of his free throw attempts in the final 26 seconds with the Knicks intentionally fouling, along with Anthony Davis (12 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and four blocks) making four late free throws to seal the win.
The Lakers, who moved to 26-25 with the victory, had another starting lineup change, with Rui Hachimura (seven points and four rebounds in 20 minutes) replacing Taurean Prince (16 points in 33 minutes) in the first unit.
