Knicks survive Lakers 112-108 as Randle scores 33

The New York Knicks snapped their three-game losing streak with a hard-fought 112-108 win over the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Center on Sunday night.

Julius Randle and RJ Barrett led the way for the Knicks, combining for 63 points, while Immanuel Quickley added 15 points in his fourteenth game as a starter.

Randle bounced back from a tough outing against the Clippers and came out firing on all cylinders in the first half, scoring 25 of his total 33 points to give the Knicks a 62-59 lead heading into the locker room.

“Hey, look, we’re all human. Anyone can have a bad day. If you have a bad day, the next day, you got to bounce back and have a great day. I thought he did that and I thought it was great.”

– Tom Thibodeau

Barrett was also impressive, pouring in 30 points and playing with great poise down the stretch.

Despite building a 10-point lead with just over two minutes left on the clock, the Knicks allowed the Lakers to claw their way back into the game, with D’Angelo Russell scoring 33 points and Anthony Davis tallying 17 points and 16 rebounds.

But in the end, it was the Knicks who came out on top, thanks in large part to the heroics of Josh Hart, who hit a pair of clutch free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.

The Knicks entered the fourth quarter trailing, but they turned the game around with some great defensive stops and timely scoring. Miles McBride hit a huge three-pointer to put the Knicks up 93-91, and Barrett added a couple of key layups to extend the lead 99-94.

The Knicks played without Jalen Brunson, who missed his fourth game in the last five due to injury.

For the Lakers, it was another tough loss without LeBron James, who missed his seventh consecutive game with a right foot tendon injury.

But the team showed great resilience in battling back from a double-digit deficit and nearly stealing the win. Despite the loss, Russell and Davis provided some much-needed scoring punch for the Lakers and kept the game within reach until the final buzzer.

With the victory, the Knicks improved to 40-30 on the season and maintained their hold on the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race, just behind the Brooklyn Nets who won two straight and are 39-29.

Up-next: The Knicks (40-30) will look to build on this win when they take on the Trail Blazers (31-37) in Portland on Tuesday at 10:00 pm.