LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to beat the New York Knicks 113-109 in an overtime thriller on Thursday night.
The Lakers, winners of eight straight and 20 of 24 overall, improved to 40-21 and maintained their No. 2 spot in the Western Conference. The Knicks dropped to 40-22 and are No. 3 in the East.
On a night when the Lakers’ supporting cast struggled to make shots, outside of the fourth quarter and overtime, they were carried by their two superstars Luka Dončić (32 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists) and LeBron James (31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists). Jalen Brunson, who suffered an ankle injury with 1:24 left in overtime and exited the game after making both free throws, had 39 points and 10 assists.
The Knicks’ offense stagnated in the fourth quarter, scoring only 15 points as the Lakers rallied from an eight-point deficit. Gabe Vincent and James combined to make five 3-pointers over the final 5:59, helping LA turn an eight-point deficit into a 99-96 lead with 1:21 left. But two possessions later, Brunson drove and connected on an and-1 to tie the game at 99-99 with 46.1 seconds left.
The Lakers missed two 3-pointers — one by Dorian Finney-Smith and one by James — and then stifled the Knicks on the final possession. Los Angeles forced Brunson to catch a pass near half court and doubled him, leading him to pass to Josh Hart. Hart then faced a wave of defenders, putting the ball on the floor and trying to get a shot up as time expired.
The Lakers carried their momentum into overtime, where Dončić drilled back-to-back jumpers over Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns — one mid-range jumper near the free-throw line and a step-back 27-foot 3-pointer on the left wing — to give the Lakers a 104-99 lead they’d never relinquish. The Knicks briefly tied the game at 107-107, on the free throws after Brunson’s injury, but the Lakers largely controlled overtime en route to extending their win streak.
Luka with the moonshot in OT! pic.twitter.com/MlylTwP501
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 7, 2025
The Knicks’ weird 2025 continued on Thursday with their second straight loss, dropping them to 17-12 since the turn of the calendar year, but that pales in comparison to what happened to Brunson in overtime.
New York’s captain went up for a layup in the final minutes of the game and came down in pain, holding his right ankle. Brunson stayed down for a while and was looked over by a team trainer, head coach Tom Thibodeau and his father/assistant coach Rick Brunson. Once he was able to get up, Brunson struggled to put pressure on his ankle. He shot the free throws and then hobbled to the locker room.
New York led most of the night against the Lakers, but the struggling Knicks offense continued to show itself. The Knicks went 10-for-42 from 3 in the game. New York has struggled to shoot the ball since Jan. 1, ranking in the bottom 6 in the league in 3-point percentage. The Knicks’ offense spent the first half of the season being one of the most efficient in basketball but things have changed over the last 30 games or so. New York is also near the bottom in the NBA in 3-point attempts since the turn of the calendar.
The Knicks’ shooting struggles and lack of creators outside of Brunson has really taken a toll on the team down the season’s final stretch. Those two things were critical to the Lakers being able to pull off the comeback effort.
This story will be updated.
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(Photo: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images)
