Lakers come together to beat Knicks in OT for the 8th consecutive victory – Orange County Register

Los Angeles – Even in their best victories sequence in several years, the Lakers did not have their “best things”, as Austin Reaves said last week.

But they found ways to win – a trend that continued on Thursday evening when they gathered to beat the New York Knicks, 113-109 in overtime, for their eighth consecutive victory.

Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 32 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and four interceptions, opening the additional period with a 14-foot fadeaway and a 3-point pointer for a five-point advantage (104-99) while the Lakers (40-21) have improved at 9-2 since he made his debut the Lakers on February 10.

LeBron James finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. The top scorer of all time in the league has made a 3 -point clutch pointer to equalize the scoring at 96 years late for regulation after the Lakers followed 32 consecutive minutes.

Reaves, who returned Thursday after missing the two previous games with a tense left calf, had a hard time in his first game since he played nine minutes in the home victory last Friday against the Clippers. The fourth year goalkeeper finished with eight points on 2 out of 13 shots.

But after Jalen Brunson reduced the Lakers’ advance to 105-104 in overtime, Reaves overthrew a 3-point corner-the only one he made in seven attempts-which was assisted by the Jaxson Hayes center in the short deposit of a pick-and-roll with James to put the Lakers in front of the four with 2:40 on the left in the additional period.

Brunson finished with a summit of 39 points on 13 shots of 26 (12 for 13 of the free throw line) to go with 10 assists for a double-double, but the goalkeeper left the match with 1:24 on the left after turning his right ankle on Reaves by driving in the basket.

The star goalkeeper made a pair of free throws to equalize the scoring at 107-all before the Knicks (40-22) intentionally surrendered to allow him to leave the game and return to the locker room.

Hayes made a pair of free throws to put the Lakers in advance 109-107 with 59.7 remaining seconds.

After Karl-Anthony Towns committed an offensive fault while trying to take a rebound on James, the 22-year-old veteran of the NBA made a pair of free throws for an advance of 111-107.

James caught a defensive rebound after Og Anunoby missed a frank launch after firing a firing on a lay-up he made to reduce the advance of the Lakers to 111-109. The MVP of the League four times then made another pair of free throws to seal the victory.

The Lakers, which won 20 of the 24 games dating from January 15, followed most of the second half, their attack becoming cold – in particular the arc – after a strong departure.

The Lakers were down 13 in the third quarter and 10 to half the fourth, but when they needed it most, their 3-point shots fell. They pulled 7 for 15 long -term in the fourth quarter and in overtime after taking 7 by 27 in the first three quarters.

Gabe Vincent (12 points) made a pair of 3 points in the last six minutes of regulation, including a 27 feet which reduced the Lakers deficit to 94-93 with less than three minutes in the fourth. The 3-point pointer from Vincent with 1:21 on the left in the regulation crowned a race of 19-6 and gave the Lakers an advantage of 99-96.

The recruit Dalton Knecht (11 points, four rebounds) also helped maintain the end of the offensive of the afloat.

More to come to this story.

Originally published: March 6, 2025 at 10:29 pm PST