OG Anunoby scored seven of his team-high 25 points during a decisive run to end the third quarter, and the surging New York Knicks pulled away from the visiting Los Angeles Lakers to earn a 112-100 win Sunday night.
Anunoby added eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Knicks, who have won six straight since a 2-9 skid.
Karl-Anthony Towns (11 points, 13 rebounds) and Jalen Brunson (12 points, 13 assists) each recorded double-doubles while Landry Shamet scored 23 points off the bench. Starter Josh Hart added 20 points.
Luka Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer, had 30 points and tied a season-high 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who fell to 4-3 on their season-long eight-game Grammys road trip. Doncic also had 15 rebounds in a 112-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 7.
LeBron James had 22 points, five rebounds and six assists while Deandre Ayton had 13 points. Rui Hachimura added 11 points off the bench.
The teams combined for 15 lead changes and six ties before the Knicks took control late in the third.
The Lakers led by as many as nine in the first before taking 33-27 lead at the end of the quarter. The Knicks led once in the second at 45-44 before Los Angeles ended the quarter on a 12-7 run to take a 56-52 lead.
Doncic hit a 3-pointer with 3:45 left in the third to give the Lakers their last lead at 77-75. After four straight empty trips, Towns’ steal of a Doncic pass led to Anunoby’s game-tying dunk. Anunoby then picked off Gabe Vincent’s pass and put the Knicks ahead for good with another dunk.
Hachimura missed a 3-pointer before Brunson fed Shamet for an alley-oop. James hit a jumper following a timeout to pull the Lakers within 81-79, but Shamet, Brunson and Anunoby all hit 3-pointers in the final 70 seconds to give the Knicks a 90-82 lead.
The Lakers got no closer than four in the fourth, and the Knicks took their first double-digit lead at 99-89 on Hart’s jumper with 5:57 to go. New York led by at least eight the rest of the way.
