NEW YORK — The Lakers know all too well that a team playing without a couple of its best players shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Just two days removed from beating the league-best Boston Celtics at TD Garden without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers knew the short-handed New York Knicks, who were without their second- and third-leading scorers in Julius Randle (shoulder) and OG Anunoby (elbow), shouldn’t be underestimated.
And that’s how they treated Saturday night’s matchup, beating the Knicks 113-105 at Madison Square Garden after holding the Knicks scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the final quarter.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Austin Reaves, who made his Madison Square Garden debut, scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth, including making all four of his free throw attempts in the final 26 seconds with the Knicks intentionally fouling, along with Anthony Davis (12 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and four blocks) making four late free throws to seal the win.
The Lakers, who moved to 26-25 with the victory, had another starting lineup change, with Rui Hachimura (seven points and four rebounds in 20 minutes) replacing Taurean Prince (16 points in 33 minutes) in the first unit.
They struggled early with containing the Knicks (32-18) on the glass.
The Knicks grabbed 13 offensive rebounds for 15 second-chance points in the first three quarters to help make up for their below-average shotmaking, taking an 86-80 lead in the fourth.
From there, the Lakers took their defensive intensity and focus to another level.
They outscored the Knicks 33-19 in the final quarter, holding New York scoreless from the 7:25 mark in the fourth when the Knicks were up 96-94 after Donte DiVincenzo’s 3-pointer until DiVincenzo made a stepback jumper with 40 seconds remaining to cut the Lakers’ lead to 105-98.
The Lakers trapped and double Jalen Brunson (36 points and 10 assists) in a majority of…
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