In one of the best wins of the season, the Lakers overcame a poor second and third quarter with a huge fourth quarter rally to earn a 113-109 win in overtime.
LeBron James ended with 31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Luka Dončić scored 32 points to go with his 12 assists, seven rebounds and four steals. Dalton Knecht pitched in with 11 points and four rebounds.
Gabe Vincent went 4-4 from behind the arc, ending with 12 points and a heroic showing in the fourth quarter.
The game began with Luka knocking down a 3-pointer, three of his 10 quick points that jumpstarted LA’s offense. His former Dallas Mavericks teammate Jalen Brunson was cooking for the Knicks with seven points.
Fortunately for the Lakers, Karl Anthony-Towns picked up his second foul and was forced to sit early in the first.
Austin Reaves was having a slow start, missing his first two 3-pointers. New York had to call timeout with Los Angeles up seven. LA’s defense was smothering the Knicks, making them miss shots and fumble the ball, leading to steals for LA.
New York started scoring with a sudden collapse in the Lakers’ defense. Trey Jemison saw some playing time and scored five points. Dalton drained a 3-pointer.
At the end of the first, the purple and gold were up four.
LA led by as many as 9 in the 1st Q, but the Knicks cut the margin to 4 with a buzzer-beating jumper from Brunson.
Doncic had 13 points, 2 assists, 1 board and 1 steal before sitting 3 minutes early after a Brunson flop was ruled the 2nd Doncic foul.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) March 7, 2025
The second quarter did not start well for the Lakers as they lost their lead to a Knicks 12-1 run. Austin continued to look rusty, with his only point so far coming from the free throw. Los Angeles played messy, leading to this surge from the Knicks.
The Lakers were up to 10 team fouls, with the referees calling them all over the place.
LeBron scored four straight points, trying to help spark some offense for the team. The Lakers did a great job limiting KAT, causing missed shots and turning the ball over. OG Anunoby was making the Lakers pay for their defensive breakdowns, scoring at will in the paint and draining a pair of 3-pointers.
The Lakers were forced to call timeout with the Knicks up 10. LA then turned the ball over, ending with a layup from Mikal Bridges before KAT finally scored his first points with a 3-pointer.
At halftime, the Lakers were down 11.
Halftime: Knicks 60, Lakers 51
Luka Doncic has 18 points, 6 assists and 2 steals. LeBron James has 16 points and 5 rebounds. No other Laker is in double figures. The rest of the group is 6-of-17. LA is losing the possession battle to NYK due to turnovers and offensive rebounds.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 7, 2025
The second half began just as rough as the second quarter for LA. Although Luka started things off with a 3-pointer, Brunson was cooking the Lakers, adding to his point total with six more points. The Knicks defended the Lakers well, keeping them from finding consistency in their offense.
Los Angeles fell into bad habits by taking too many 3-pointers, which often takes them out of games, fast.
With 3:58 left in the third, the Lakers had cut the deficit to single digits with small spurts of offense. Gabe Vincent knocked down a much-needed 3-pointer. LA kicked up their play, trying to find momentum to take into the fourth.
A couple of missed shots by the Knicks led to more opportunities for the Lakers and a 3-pointer by Dalton. New York had pushed the lead back to double digits, but another 3-pointer by Dalton kept it single digits at the end of the third.
The final frame started with two missed shots by LeBron and the Knicks up by 10 again. Luka was subbed back into the game and made a jumper, making it a single digit deficit again. LA had plenty of opportunities to make shots but they kept falling short.
Each time the Lakers cut it to single digits, the Knicks responded.
Jaxson Hayes came up with a big block on Brunson to stop what would have been an easy floater. Gabe, who had struggled with his three in recent weeks, knocked down his second of the night.
The Lakers went on a 9-3 scoring run, cutting the deficit to four. There were finally more Laker players contributing scoring-wise. It was a one-point game when Josh Hart drained a 3-pointer.
Gabe drained another 3-pointer to make it a one-point game again. Brunson knocked down a jumper as an answer and then LeBron followed that with a three to tie the game. Gabe connected on yet another 3-pointer to give the Lakers the lead.
Brunson was fouled, making the shot and completing the three-point play. After a missed LeBron go-ahead shot, the Knicks failed to get an attempt off before the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
The Lakers jumped ahead by five to start OT, thanks to an explosive Luka takeover. Brunson was fouled and made both his free throws. Brunson hit a floater to now make it a one-point game. Austin then drained a massive 3-pointer, a bit shot after such a poor night of shooting.
Brunson was fouled again and knocked down both free throws. He was fouled again and hit both free throws, but badly twisted his ankle on the play and walked straight to the locker room after the freebies.
Jaxson was fouled and hit both free throws to put the hosts back up two with 59 seconds left. A loose ball foul on KAT gave LeBron free throws that he drained. Anunoby came up with a big play, converting on a layup and getting fouled, but he missed the free throw.
LeBron corralled the rebound and came up clutch again with two more free throws to seal the win.
Key Takeaways:
THE LAKERS ARE LEGIT!
The Lakers’ next game will be against the Boston Celtics on Saturday at 5:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
