LOS ANGELES — The Knicks have seen a tale of two Lakers this season.
The night Luka Dončić was traded to the Lakers is a date — Feb. 1, to be exact — that will live in infamy for Lakers fans and the basketball world at large.
What will be forgotten is that the Lakers played a game just hours before as they beat the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden. In the month that passed before Thursday’s meeting between the two sides again, the Lakers look vastly different.
The Lakers didn’t rely on Max Christie’s on-ball defense to disrupt New York or LeBron James to dazzle and carry the team to victory.
Instead, they relied on clutch outside shooting from Dalton Knecht and Gabe Vincent to give them a chance and, in overtime, the duo of Luka and LeBron scored nine of the team’s 14 points to give the Lakers a 113-109 win.
The first contest showed that the Lakers could win even when shorthanded, so long as they played hard. The rematch demonstrated LA can win even when they don’t put their best foot forward.
“Our guys just stayed the course and refused to give in and let go of the rope,” Redick said. “Seemed like [Jalen] Brunson had an answer for everything. He was fantastic tonight. And our guys, in what felt like a playoff game at times, really just gutted out a win.”
In the first half, a victory looked like a pipe dream. LA was thoroughly outplayed and their 3-point shot was ice cold. The Lakers were 3-16 from deep after two quarters and trailed 60-51.
Even the stadium wasn’t in their favor as the New York fans arrived in droves. You could audibly hear MVP chants every time Jalen Brunson took free throws and echoes of “Duce!” every time Knicks guard Miles McBride took a deep shot.
With 17 turnovers on the night and Austin Reaves notably rusty after returning from a calf injury, it looked like this wouldn’t be LA’s night. The Knicks are a good team and with shots not falling, there’s no shame in losing.
However, the Lakers never gave in to that kind of thinking.
It was heard on the ESPN broadcast that during a timeout as coach JJ Redick told his players, “We’re gonna make our run. Keep our poise.”
And then it finally happened.
To end the third quarter, Knecht hit a 3-pointer, bringing the Lakers within single digits. In the fourth, momentum shifted as Reaves knocked down a corner three. Later in the period, Gabe Vincent converted on a 3-pointer to complete the comeback and take the lead with 1:21 minutes left to play.
The Lakers needed overtime to get the job done, but Luka came out blazing to start the extra session, scoring five straight points. On his three that forced New York to call timeout, he was as demonstartive as can be, yelling after the clutch shot and sensing the victory was closing in.
Anthony Davis was often called the “Destroyer of Worlds” by Lakers fans, but Luka, is the creator. Dončić handling the ball gives the Lakers the best chance to win and Thursday was an example of why.
He can hit devastating shots and lets you know that he did. His passes seem geometrically improbable and physically impossible, but he makes them look so easy.
Before the Luka trade, the Lakers were a respectable team with a ceiling of avoiding the play-in and being a tough out relatively early in the postseason.
Now, their ceiling ceases to exist. It’s not Lakers Exceptionalism and it’s not too small of a sample size. They were good and now they are great.
Los Angeles has gone 12-2 since the trade and is on an eight-game winning streak, their longest since the 2019-20 title season.
With a little over a quarter of the year left, the Lakers look as legit as anyone to challenge the Thunder to come out of the West and, if they keep up this relentless style, they’ll have plenty to say about who does.
“When you get to the playoffs, you have to play hard to have any sort of chance,” head coach JJ Redick said, “and I think our our guy’s ability to continually just reach down into the well and give whatever they’ve got on a given night, regardless if the shots are going in or if there’s defensive mistakes, like they just continue to stay the course with their effort. I think that says a lot about our group.”
Los Angeles left New York at the start of February with a 28-19 record and a new face of the franchise after a shocking trade that forever changed their now and later.
Now, they are beginning to realize just how bright that future can be.
