Gameday Recap Knicks @ Lakers 3/13/23

Lakers lose to Knicks in the final game of their homestand

The Lakers end their home stand tonight looking for a third consecutive victory. Limping into Crypto Arena tonight is the visiting New York Knicks, who are on a three-game losing skid. The Knicks will try and right their ship without the team's captain Jalen Brunson who has had a breakout year for New York after signing a big contract in the off-season. Will The Lakers continue off Friday night's exciting victory over the Raptors?

My prediction Lakers win this game behind a big night from AD.

Let's Talk Hoops.

Starting five and injury report.

1st Quarter

"D'Lo picking up where he left off."

Malik Beasley would pop the cork on this game, hitting a sweet three-point jumper from the corner. Julius Randle, the Ex Laker who has found his home in New York, would answer back with an awkward left-handed baseline jumper, officially starting the game. D'Angelo Russell would start this game off the way he finished Friday night against Toronto, making his first four shots, including three three-point bombs (11pts). Anthony Davis would send the crowd into an early frenzy following the offensive onslaught by sending Knicks young guard RJ Barrett's floater into the lap of Spike Lee. Recording his first block of the night (1blk), 16-11 Lakers, at 7:00.  The Knicks would struggle throughout the first quarter, looking offensively out of sync, with Jalen Brunson initiating the offense. Instead, you had Julius Randle doing his best at Stanley from the office impersonation.
I have been a fan of Randle since he entered the league with the Lakers, but his handles are his weakest trait. Julius would put up (15pts and 4rebs) in the first quarter by just bullying his way into the paint on smaller defenders. Late in the quarter, The Lakers would lose all momentum they had built by committing consecutive turnovers (3TO) and compounding their mistakes with terrible defense at the rim. The Knicks would lead after the 1st 31-27.

2nd Quarter 

"The Knicks make it ugly"

The Lakers would start the second Quarter in a zone defense to see if they could prevent drives to the paint and force New York to take some outside shots. It didn't work. Laker head coach Darvin Ham was forced to call an extremely early timeout after seeing RJ Barrett waltz down the lane without a Laker defender in sight. (35-27 NY leads). At 9:00, AD and D'Lo would check into the game to restart a stagnant Laker offense. It worked. Davis would get the ball on the right wing and hit his defender with a spin move that would make Hakeem "The Dream" proud and slam it home with a foul.

 

D'Angelo would again contribute to the cause by finding a pocket in the zone defense at the free-throw line. Hitting a jumper and getting fouled in the process. The Laker offense shows signs of life (44-39 NY leads). The duo would follow that up with a perfect run pick and roll where AD would receive a laser bounce pass, finishing efficiently at the rim and notching his (8PT). 

The game would pick up in tempo and see more ball movement for both teams, and both teams would shoot the ball from beyond the arc with decent efficiency. The Lakers would go 41% from the three-point line in the first half. Julius Randle would continue to pressure the laker defense scoring his 22nd point and slamming it over his former teammate Russell in transition. 

Not to be outdone, Malik Beasley wisely decided to step in from the three-point line and soar past Quentin Grimes for the dunk bringing The Lakers within two points (59-57 NY). Randle would put an exclamation point on his first-half master class with a three-point bucket leaving 3 seconds on the clock. 

The Kicks would take the lead into the second half 62-59)

  • D'Angelo Russell 23PTS 5AST 2REB
  • Anthony Davis 12PTS 5REB 3AST
  • Julius Randle 25PTS 8REBS 2AST

 

3rd Quarter

"This one is going down to the wire."

Jerred Vanderbilt opens up the second half by intercepting a would-be pass and taking it the other way for the uncontested slam (2pts). Julius Randle would continue being a menace at the rim, dunking the ball off a euro step and earning an AND-1 (28pts). It's clear at this point The Lakers will need to defend Randle the same way teams defend Giannis and a young LeBron building a wall in front of the rim. 

Malik Beasley, who has been overdue to start clicking from the outside, gets one to go after D'Angelo Russell sets him up with a pass straight into the shooters "shooting pocket." The knicks would call a timeout, and Beasley would stand there for just a moment holding his shooting form as to say, "that's what making a three feels like" (68-66 Knicks). He would miss his next two attempts. Julius Randle would walk into a rhythm three giving the Knicks a 77-69 lead and Randle his 31st point of the night.

 

 

Austin Reaves would check in after the timeout and waste no time taking a screen and driving the lane finishing with his off-hand. D'Lo would follow that up with his sixth three of the night and a fast break layup, giving Russel his 31st point of the night (77-76 NY). 

Rui Hachimura would come alive late in the third, hitting on a pair of buckets and giving him an 8pt running total. The Quarter would come to a close with Troy Brown Jr. hitting a pair of free throws giving the Lakers a lead going into the fourth.

The Lakers are up 86-85.

4th Quarter

"The Lakers just don't have enough."

Dennis Schroder would zoom past the defense to open the fourth quarter, only to be answered back by former Laker Josh Hart hitting a three-point jumper to tie the game at 88. Austin Reaves would make his daily deposit in his own highlight reel by driving the lane and spinning off his defender, who trips up Reaves, but Austin throws up the layup as he is falling and scores the basket. Headed to the line for a free throw (11pts).

RJ Barrett would continue his assault on the rim, shedding would-be defender Troy Brown Jr. for a jelly layup, pushing his running total to 23pts on the night. AD would miss two bunnies at the rim, and The Knicks would come back in transition seeing Obi Toppin lay the ball in with very little resistance forcing The Lakers to call a timeout. This game could get away from them at this point (101-94 NY).

Rui would make a much-needed jumper, creating space away from the big who switched out on him. His midrange game is coming along nicely. Lakers within five. D'Lo and AD would have a miscommunication turning the ball over, giving The Knicks a transition alley-oop to Slam Dunk artist Obi Toppin. With a shot clock nearing zero on an ugly offensive possession by The Knicks, RJ Barrett would pick up a deflected pass and chuck up a hail-mary three at the buzzer for his 28th point. Forcing coach Ham to call a timeout as RJ would peer toward The Laker bench. 

 

D'Angelo would try and close the gap late with a nice floater with little over a minute left (110-104 NY). Austin Reaves would walk the ball up the court preserving precious seconds on the clock. Cross halfcourt and go directly into a Pick and Roll with Davis, where Reaves would toss the ball toward the roof of Crypto Arena, and AD would slam it down. The Lakers have a little bit of hope (110-106 NY, 46 seconds remaining). After forcing a missed shot by RJ Barrett, Dennis Schroder would take the ball coast to coast to coast and lay it in (110- 108 NY). The Knicks would inbound the ball, and instead of fouling, The Lakers would play for a steal, but The Knicks would get the ball past halfcourt and play keep away, dwindling the clock all the way down to five seconds, finally fouling Josh Hart sending him to the line. The former Laker, who has improved The Knicks since being acquired from Portland, would walk up to the line and calmly hit both free throws (112-108 Knicks). D'Angelo Russell would throw up a three-pointer that missed, but the game was essentially over when The Lakers did not foul in a timely manner.

The knicks win 112-108.

MY TAKEAWAYS

  • D'Angelo Russell brought it for the second game in a row. He gave The Lakers what they needed from the point guard position. D'lo had 33PTS 8AST 3REB, shot 68% from 2 and 54% from 3. He was a team-high +14 when on the court. I love his game.
  • AD, for the second game in a row, was underwhelming. If you simply glance at the box score, it would look like he had a decent game. Scoring 17PT grabbing 16REB and 4AST. To the untrained eye, that looks good enough, but it was clear as day that AD wasn't in the mood to be a MONSTAR tonight. MVP Davis could have put 30+ tonight against a defensively weak Knick frontcourt. We all know this is the Anthony Davis experience. AD shot 44% from the field and went 1-5 from the free-throw line. Davis was quoted after the game stating "My fault, I played terrible". Taking accountability for his poor play but we need results.
  • For the Knicks, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett make an exciting duo who, on a night-to-night basis, can look like a contender out East or a G-League squad. The Knicks are my favorite team to watch out East to root for because they do well in the underdog role. I am a big fan of Jalen Brunson, and I think The Knicks can win a series in the playoffs. For that fan base, I would deem that a success.

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