The New York Knicks created some consternation and angst about their contender status during a recent slump, while the Los Angeles Lakers picked up their performance of late without a key piece of the rotation.
The Knicks attempt to earn a season-high tying sixth straight win Sunday night when they host the Lakers, who could get Austin Reeves back from a lengthy absence.
From Dec. 31-Jan. 19, the Knicks lost nine of 11 games, a stretch that coincided with owner James Dolan saying he believed the team was a championship contender during an interview on WFAN. Six of those losses were by double digits, but since their 114-97 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the Knicks have earned four double-digit wins in their second five-game winning streak of the season.
New York is shooting 40.3% from 3-point range during its past five games while beating the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, and Portland Trail Blazers.
On Friday, the Knicks never trailed and rolled to a 127-97 home win over Portland. New York made 19-of-45 3-point tries and improved to 9-2 when hitting at least 19 triples this season.
Jalen Brunson made five 3s on 12 attempts and scored 26 points after playing through an illness when he had 13 points in Wednesday’s 119-92 rout at Toronto. Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 20 rebounds after getting a season-high 22 boards at Toronto.
“We went through a little bit of adversity in terms of our wins and losses,” New York coach Mike Brown said. “Our guys just kind of stayed with it. We kept trying to help them as best we could. Those guys stayed with it, they stayed together. This is a veteran group that has been through a lot. They figured out what they needed to do to play at a high level. They’re going out there and showing it.”
Los Angeles dropped six of 10 from Dec. 30-Jan. 17. They now enter the final two games of a eight-game road trip with five wins over their past seven games. The Lakers are 4-2 on the trip necessitated by the Grammy Awards taking over their home arena and bounced back from a 30-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers by rolling to a 142-111 rout of the Washington Wizards on Friday.
The Lakers finished one shy of their highest point total and shot a season-best 61.2% during a game they led by as many as 38. None of the starters played more than 31 minutes.
Doncic scored 37 points and collected 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his sixth triple-double this season, doing so after falling off Cleveland’s elevated court on Wednesday.
“I think playing with a competitive edge and playing together on both ends of the floor,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We’ve talked a lot recently just about doing your job. If you’re supposed to be the low man, be the low man. These guys all have shown they can do it and I think the theme of our season has been the ups and downs and sort of the consistency that we’re searching for on a night-to-night basis.”
The Lakers played their 18th straight game without Austin Reaves due to a left calf injury, and he might return Sunday or for Tuesday’s visit to Brooklyn. He was listed as questionable on the Saturday injury report.
Reaves is averaging a career-high 26.6 points this season and the Lakers are 14-10 without him.
