New York, N.Y. – The King strikes again! LeBron has a history of winning here at Madison Square Garden, with this being his 13th in his last 14 games played at the venue.
LeBron James put on another masterful performance at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. The 40-year-old does not seem to be slowing down, and his most recent performance at the Garden proved that.
The Lakers were without their star forward Anthony Davis, and Lebron took matters into his own hands; he came out fast and aggressive, scoring 13 of his 33 points in the first quarter. James finished the game with a triple-double, totaling 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists.
“We had a great gameplan… for 48 minutes, we found it, and when we do that we give ourselves a good chance to win… it’s always special to come in this building… for us to be able to come here and showcase our talent,” said James.
The Lakers also received key contributions from Austin Reaves, who finished with 27 points, six assists, and five rebounds. Rui Hachimura scored an efficient 21 points, shooting 8-12 from the field and 2-2 from the free-throw line.
“There’s no way we can make up for AD’s absence, especially defensively and offensively he’s our best player… we all have to figure out how we can do a little bit more, give a little bit more, and tonight we did that,” said LeBron.
The Lakers torched the Knicks’ defense all night, shooting 58 percent from the field and 48 percent from the 3-point line.
“They caught us overhelping, they were able to knock down shots… they were just in a rhythm all night,” said Jalen Brunson
The Knicks were looking for their two biggest stars to step up and take over the game, but that never happened. Despite Josh Hart’s 26-point triple-double, his teammates Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns only managed to combine for 28 points as a duo.
“They were swarming. They went small, they were doubling KAT… offensively we had 32 assists that part was good… we have to make sure to do better defensively,” said Head Coach Tom Thibodeux.
This wasn’t the only loss the Knicks suffered throughout the night, starting forward OG Anunoby suffered a noncontact injury early in the third quarter that forced him out for the rest of the contest. It was initially diagnosed as a “sprained foot” according to Coach Thibodeau and the initial X-rays were “negative.”
“It’s always tough to see something like that, especially your teammate… were praying for him,” said Brunson.
The Knicks will look to rebound from this loss on Monday against a young Houston Rockets team. The Knicks will most likely be without OG Anunoby for some time and it should be interesting to see how they fill that void.
