League-Worst New York Knicks Fight To Stun LeBron's Lakers
17th March 2019
The Lakers meanwhile are stuck in 11th spot in the Western Conference with 31 wins and 39 defeats, nine wins fewer than the Los Angeles Clippers
- LeBron James scored 33 points but it was not enough to prevent the Los Angeles Lakers sliding to an embarrassing 124-123 defeat to the league-worst New York Knicks on Sunday
- The Lakers, who are all but out of contention for the playoffs, blew a 122-111 lead late in the fourth quarter as the Knicks ended a run of eight consecutive defeats with an upset win at Madison Square Garden
- The Knicks are rooted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference with the worst record in the NBA, with Sunday's win seeing them improve to 14 wins against 56 defeats
NEW YORK, United
States- LeBron James scored 33 points but it was not enough to prevent the
Los Angeles Lakers sliding to an embarrassing 124-123 defeat to the
league-worst New York Knicks on Sunday.
The Lakers, who are all but out of contention for the
playoffs, blew a 122-111 lead late in the fourth quarter as the Knicks ended a
run of eight consecutive defeats with an upset win at Madison Square Garden.
It marked another grim milestone in the Lakers' rocky
season, which has nosedived dramatically since the turn of the year.
The Knicks are rooted to the bottom of the Eastern
Conference with the worst record in the NBA, with Sunday's win seeing them
improve to 14 wins against 56 defeats.
The Lakers meanwhile are stuck in 11th spot in the Western
Conference with 31 wins and 39 defeats, nine wins fewer than the Los Angeles
Clippers, who occupy the last remaining playoff berth.
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Dejected Lakers coach Luke Walton, whose job is reportedly
in peril, praised the Knicks for digging out an improbable win.
"Give the Knicks credit for staying with it,"
Walton told reporters. "We didn't do a good enough job of closing out the
game. We fought hard to build a lead. We didn't make the plays that we needed
to to win the game.
"The Knicks stepped up and made some big shots and some
big defensive plays."
The first sign that the Lakers were in for a rough ride on
Sunday came in a catastrophic first quarter, when they leaked an astonishing 41
points as the Knicks cut loose.
However the Lakers gradually chipped away at the Knicks'
early lead and had pulled clear late in the fourth quarter when a James jumper
made it 122-111 with 3min 45sec remaining.
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The Knicks, however, produced a startling late run which
ended with Emmanuel Mudiay levelling the score at 123-123 with the first
of two free throws before draining the second to give his team a 124-123 lead.
Mudiay led the scoring for the Knicks with 28 points while
Damyean Dotson had 25 points.
Kevin Knotson had 19 points for the Knicks, one of five
players in double figures.