With LeBron James suspended and Anthony Davis sick, the L.A. Lakers fell to the New York Knicks 100 – 106.
James’ absence was certainly felt on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, when the Lakers had to face the Knicks on their road trip. LeBron was handed down a two-game suspension by the NBA, after his incident with Pistons Isaiah Stewart during L.A.’s win over Detroit, so the Lakers star wasn’t even in the building last night. To make matters worse, Anthony Davis complained of unknown illness with fever, the day of the game, and even though the forward managed to make it to the game, AD was certainly not even close to 100% on the court. Still, he managed to net 20 points in the basket, assist 3 times and rebound six.
The most productive for LA on Tuesday night was Russell Westbrook, who banked a triple-double with 31 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Westbrook got most of his tally in the second half of the game, by which time the Knicks had racked up a large surplus. It was right at the start of the game, actually, when the Knicks took control and pretty much set up the Lakers for a loss. New York closed the first quarter with a 16-point lead, although L.A. managed to shave off 4 points in the second.
The Lakers went to the locker rooms down by 12, but with the knowledge that it wasn’t a lead too though to deal with. Especially considering they managed to claw their way back up in the game against Detroit, where the Lakers trailed by 17 points at one time. And with Westbrook turning hot at the start of the second half – it seemed that the fortunes have been reversed. The Lakers took the third quarter 30-20 and everything was going according to plan. Alas, in the final quarter the Knicks bounced back and added back 4 points to their lead, just enough for the Lakers to lose the game 100 to 106. Team effort was the key for the Knicks, but forward Julius Randle had a double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds, while guard Evan Fournier netted 26 points at MSG.
The loss against the Knicks dropped LA back to 8-10, and they will close the road trip with a game against the Pacers on Wednesday night, before heading back home and getting LeBron back, as well. The Pacers may seem as an easy opponent, judging by their position at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but Indiana will be at home, and will come out hyped, following the trashing they handed the Bulls on Monday. As such, the game remains rather unpredictable, so much so that there are no sportsbooks offering odds on the game just yet. Some, not all, Vegas sportsbooks have a spread on the game and it’s currently hovering around -1 to -1.5 points chalk the Pacers.
