New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-100: Contenders without a trade

The New York Knicks have won six in a row after defeating the LA Lakers 112-100. Their All-Star duo struggled, but everyone else lifted them up.

The Knicks’ defense continues to be the story, as they held the Lakers to 100 points and overcame poor shooting nights from Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks’ stars struggled while the Lakers’ stars, LeBron James and Luka Doncic, played well.

Under those circumstances, you’d expect LA to win, but that wasn’t the case. OG Anunoby led a surprising trio of 20-point scorers, while the entire squad brought energy to the defensive end. So, in spite of the Knicks’ All-Stars’ struggles, New York won another game by double-digits.

Let’s take a closer look at the Knicks’ improbable path to victory through the player performances.

OG Anunoby might be having his best stretch of basketball as a Knick yet. He’s been red hot the past five games, and this was another gem. Anunoby hit open jumpers outside and dunked the ball anytime he stepped in the paint.

Anunoby didn’t just lead the team in scoring. He defended LA’s superstars, and you could watch those players use screen after screen looking for switches before attacking. OG was the best player on the floor tonight.

I’m giving Josh Hart all the credit for setting New York’s pace in this game. He frequently got out ahead of everyone else, creating odd-man rushes to the basket. The pace led to easy looks and contagious ball movement.

With the Lakers focused on Brunson, Hart got wide-open touches in space, and he didn’t let them go to waste. He knocked down threes or dribbled into easy looks, punishing defenders for leaving him alone.

Every time the Lakers switched to a zone defense, Landry Shamet got open looks. More often than not, Shamet converted those opportunities into field goals. Most of those were three-pointers, but he added in a few nice forays into the paint as well.

Shamet made timely jumpers and never slacked on defense. He gave New York exactly what it needed to beat LA’s zone defense and frequent double-teams.

The Lakers were determined not to let Jalen Brunson beat them. They sent help defenders at him from every direction, and used zone defenses to press the ball out of his hands. Brunson struggled from the field accordingly, even missing shots when he did make it all the way inside.

The Captain responded with passing and extra effort on defense. He trusted teammates when help defenders approached, leading to 13 assists. Brunson also hustled on defense and rebounded well.

As much as LA focused on Jalen Brunson, they paid extra attention to Karl-Anthony Towns as well. Towns never got space to take jumpers, and rarely got space to drive without a help defender approaching. KAT had valid reasons to complain to the refs about being hacked tonight.

But like Brunson, Towns responded everywhere else. He continued his run of rebounding dominance, passed well, and played active defense. This version of Towns, plus his career scoring averages, would be enough to make this team a true contender.

Mikal Bridges picked a terrible night to go cold from three. He got plenty of open looks but couldn’t convert anything, even stepping into a wide-open three only to airball it.

But Bridges stole easy points in transition and turned up his defense to make up for the shooting woes.

The Knicks turned this ship around just in time. The trade deadline is approaching, but this current roster is back to looking like a contender in its own right.

Do the Knicks really need Jose Alvarado or Ayo Dosunmo while Tyler Kolek and Deuce McBride are playing as well as they are? How important is adding another third center when KAT and Mitch are playing at this level?

The Knicks have shown chemistry and depth that’s worth seeing through this season. I’d prefer to see how far this team can go as currently constructed, and make changes in the offseason if necessary.

I’m curious how everyone else feels heading into the deadline. Should New York stand pat, or do they need a move to win the chip?

I’ll see you after the double-header against the Wizards and Nuggets, Knicks’ fam!