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Woe-vertime; Knicks Waste Brunson's 37 as LeBron, Lakers Prevail at MSG

The Los Angeles Lakers' annual visit to Madison Square Garden was not for the faint of heart, but the New York Knicks feel just short of a big victory.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Tuesday's matchup between the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers provided thrills fit for a king. Alas for the hosting Knicks, Los Angeles' royalty showed up and then some. 

LeBron James' first triple-double of the season (28 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) helped Los Angeles overcome some brutal losses in the midst of an eastern road trip, giving the Lakers just enough to eke out a 129-123 victory at Madison Square Garden. New York (27-25), which has now dropped two in a row, saw a 37-point effort from Jalen Brunson go by the wayside in defeat.

Though James continues to chase Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the title of the NBA's all-time leading scorer (now 89 points away after Tuesday's effort), he did make a smaller brand of Association history by passing Steve Nash former Knick Mark Jackson for fourth and fifth respectively on the NBA's all-time assists list. Tuesday marked James' first visit to MSG as an active participant since Jan. 2020. 

The Knicks struggled in the early going, sinking only two of their first 16 attempts from the field while Los Angeles built a 15-5 lead. Closing the frame by hitting eight of their final nine, the Knicks narrowed the gap to five before taking a lead in the second. New York forced history seekers to be more patient, as James missed six of his first eight attempts from the field while the newest Laker, Washington transplant Rui Hachimura, handled a bulk of the Los Angeles offense in the early going.

That defensive effort staged amidst the continued absence of Mitchell Robinson appeared sustainable in the first half, to the point where Dennis Schröder's late miracle triple from the cusp of midcourt at the buzzer seemed to be a minor inconvenience, especially with Los Angeles (24-28) shooting only 3-of-17 from three-point range in the first half. Brunson hit seven of his first 13 from the field while Immanuel Quickley and Isaiah Hartenstein united for 23 off the bench, helping New York turn a 10-point deficit into a 53-52 halftime lead.

But the Lakers roared back with 34 in the third quarter, building a lead that proved sustainable until the final minutes. Though James appeared to seal things up with a triple that created a 114-108 lead with 101 seconds remaining but the Knicks clawed their way back to force an extra session with Brunson drives sandwiching another two-pointer from Quentin Griimes, the latter sinking 4-of-6 in the second half.

Alas for New York, the late efforts only delayed the inevitable: though they kept pace with Los Angeles in the opening stages of overtime, another Schröder triple commenced a 7-0 run that gave the Lakers a permanent lead. 

Anthony Davis also came through big for the Lakers, earning 27 points and nine rebounds. Like James, he also sat out of a Monday loss in Brooklyn before coming up big in Mahattan. Los Angeles is two games away from the Western Conference's Play-In Tournament after the win while New York is at the top of the Eastern edition, two games behind Miami for the last of the automatic postseason bids.

As their respective playoff quests continue, the Knicks and Lakers meet again on Mar. 12 in Los Angeles. In the meantime, New York continues its homestand on Thursday when it opens February play against the Miami Heat (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG). 

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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