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But for most of Sunday night, they watched a show they probably wouldn’t want reruns of: The Knicks beating them up on the offensive glass and creating a barrage of open three-pointers.

The result was the Knicks’ burying 18 three-pointers, and the Lakers losing in New York 112–100 despite Luka Dončić’s near triple-double of 30 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.

LeBron James, who entered Sunday with the all-time third-best-winning percentage by a visiting player at Madison Square Garden, recorded 22 points, six assists and five rebounds.

But the Lakers couldn’t match the Knicks’ three-point proficiency, shooting 28.6% from beyond the arc compared to New York’s 42.9%.

The Knicks grabbed 15 offensive rebounds compared to the Lakers’ seven.

Sunday was the Lakers’ first loss at Madison Square Garden since 2021.

OG Anunoby scored a team-high 25 points for the Knicks to go with eight rebounds, while Josh Hart added 20 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had an 11 point, 13 rebound double-double.

What it means

The Lakers, who dropped to 29–19, still have a chance to secure a winning record on the trip despite the loss to the Knicks, who are on a six-game winning streak after Sunday’s victory.

Despite the loss, the Lakers still have the third-best-winning percentage among Western Conference teams with a 17–11 record in games away from Crypto.com Arena.

Turning point

After the Lakers had great ball security for most of Sunday, Dončić made an errant pass that was picked off by Towns and led to an Anunoby dunk in transition to tie the game at 77 at the 2:37 mark of the third quarter.

Gabe Vincent turned the ball over on the next possession, with Anunoby getting another dunk to put the Knicks up 79–77.

The Lakers had another empty possession when Rui Hachimura missed a corner 3, with Brunson assisting Landry Shamet on an alley-oop in transition for a Knicks’ 6–0 run that turned a Lakers two-point lead to a four-point New York advantage.

The Lakers trailed by eight entering the fourth, and trailed for the remainder of the game.

MVP: Jalen Brunson

Despite shooting four of 15 from the field, the Knicks star guard controlled the game with 13 assists, spraying out passes after getting into the Lakers’ defense.

He had nine assists in the second half, which the Knicks won 60–44.

Stat of the game: 2

That’s how many field goal attempts Deandre Ayton took after the first quarter after having nine points on 4-of-4 shooting and four rebounds in the opening frame.

Ayton finished with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting and five rebounds in 32 minutes, with the Lakers playing a center-less lineup in the final 3:34.

The Lakers are now 11–15 when Ayton takes nine or fewer shots, and 15–2 when he has at least 10 field goal attempts in a game.

Up next

The Lakers will wrap up their eight-game, 16-day “Grammy” trip against the Nets on Tuesday before having an extended stretch back in Southern California.

By the time the trip ends, the Lakers would’ve been on the road for 12 consecutive days.