The NBA regular season continues to rage, with the Lakers traveling to face the Knicks, who are third in the East. Previously, the Knicks rose to prominence with a wave of 9 straight wins and climbed the Eastern Conference standings. Although the Lakers regained the ninth place in the West in the standings, the team still faces a series of problems. The game turned into a thrilling matchup, with the Lakers struggling to equalize after falling behind many times, and finally took the lead in the final quarter with the play of James and Bushy Eyebrows, successfully ending the Knicks' nine-game winning streak and achieving a surprise victory.
The Lakers' starting lineup is Russell, Reaves, Hachimura, James, and Thick Eyebrows. As for the Knicks, due to the absence of core players such as Randle and Anunoby, they sent teams with uneven lineups. At the beginning of the game, Hachimura hit a mid-range jumper at the beginning, and Brunson scored under the basket, and the two sides launched fierce attacks. Hachimura dunked back-to-back dunks to give the Lakers a four-point lead. Although Brunson hit a toss and Russell hit all free throws, the Knicks stubbornly chased the points, and the two sides went back and forth, and the Lakers led 27-25 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the two sides were still deadlocked, and the Lakers once extended their lead to four points, but then the Knicks persevered and tied the score again. The Knicks relied on Brunson's excellent play to contribute 7 points in a single quarter, and McBride also scored 7 points alone, bringing their single quarter score to 34 points and successfully tied the score. Hachimura performed well, and the thick eyebrows, who were sluggish in the first quarter, showed strong offensive and defensive ability in the second quarter, contributing 6 points in a single quarter. James also contributed eight points before halftime, and the first half ended with a 59-59 tie.
In the third quarter, the two sides were still evenly matched, James took the lead in scoring 2 points for the Lakers with a mid-range throw, but DiVincenzo also scored three points, Brunson made technical free throws, hit the basket again, and the Knicks overtook the score. The Lakers then launched a counterattack, with Reaves hitting a three-pointer, but the Knicks were close behind, and Brunson hit another three-pointer to extend the lead to six points at one point. The Lakers launched their final sprint, and Prince's outstanding performance helped the team take the lead in the final quarter. Despite the fact that the two sides alternated leads several times, the Lakers finally managed to win the game with a good late quarter performance.
Throughout the game, the two sides showed fierce competition, and the Lakers performed well from beyond the three-point line, shooting nearly 40% from the field. The efficiency of James and thick eyebrows is relatively low, which is why the Lakers have never been able to open up the point difference, and once fell into the dilemma of falling behind and chasing points. Luckily, multiple players on the team scored in double digits, and finally came out in the final quarter.