(Basketball news) The New York Knicks got back to winning ways as they beat the in-form Los Angeles Lakers 112-108. For the Knicks, Julius Randle scored 33 points in a bounce-back performance, RJ Barrett got 20 of his 30 in the second half as Immanuel Quickley had 15 points, they were without second-leading scorer Jalen Brunson, who had a bruised left foot.
For the Lakers, D’Angelo Russell had a season-high 33 points and eight assists despite managing just two points in the fourth quarter as Anthony Davis had 17 points and 16 rebounds, but fell behind during an erratic shooting performance by three starters: Malik Beasley, Troy Brown Jr. and Jarred Vanderbilt combined 5 for 23, missing 14 of their 16 3-point attempts. Los Angeles dropped to 4-3 during the latest injury absence for LeBron James, who missed his seventh straight game with a sore right foot as he could be out for more than two weeks or so.
“We did enough to win, and the tone was set at the beginning by Julius,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It gave us the confidence that, you know, ‘We’re here.’ … We have a very young team, so when you have a young team and Julius is just going into his prime, the only way they’re going to get better is by working. If they’re not working, they’re not going to get better.”
“That one hurt for us,” Russell said. “We were battling, trying to do everything we could. Couldn’t get enough rebounds, enough stops. Making those shots just didn’t go our way, I guess. Can’t pinpoint anything, really. It’s tough.”
“I played terrible,” Davis said. “I couldn’t find my shot. Free throws. Layups. Everything. Guys did their job. I didn’t do my job tonight.”
The Brooklyn Nets produced a stellar performance to hand the Denver Nuggets their third consecutive loss as they beat them 122-120. For the Nets, Mikal Bridges scored 25 points as Nic Claxton had 20 points and Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie added 15 points each for their fifth win in the last six games.
For the Nuggets, Jokic had 35 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists for his league-leading 27th triple-double of the season but missed a contested 14-foot jumper with 5 seconds left that would have given them the lead while Michael Porter Jr. added 23 points for Denver, which matched his season high as Jamal Murray, who finished with 16 points, was forced to sit out the fourth quarter because of left knee soreness. With this the Nets improved their record to 39-29.
“Even if we don’t know what we’re doing sometimes, just scrambling, all five guys help each other,” Bridges said. “Sometimes, it’s not going to be perfect, but I think just the next guy stepping up is the biggest thing.”
“Tough loss,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Our guys fought back, gave ourselves a chance at the end.”
“We started to fly around, 15 turnovers we produced tonight, our ability to be disruptive,” Vaughn said. “We stayed together for an impressive win on the road.”
Also read: NBA: Lakers moved to within one win of going over .500 while Spurs shock the Nuggets
