Knicks takeaways from Sunday's 112-108 win at Lakers, including Julius Randle and RJ Barrett filling Jalen Brunson's void

RJ Barrett
RJ Barrett / Kirby Lee - USA TODAY Sports

The Knicks, led by 63 combined points from Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, overcame the injured Jalen Brunson's absence with a 112-108 win at the Los Angeles Lakers as New York snapped a three-game losing streak.

Five things to know from Sunday's game

1. Randle scored 25 of his game-high-tying 33 points in the first half as the Knicks maintained narrow cushions after the first (31-27) and second (62-59) quarters.

Scroll to continue with content
Ad

He was 11-of-24 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in 36 minutes.

2. While Randle cooled down in the second half and the Lakers took an 86-85 lead into the fourth quarter, Barrett stepped up. He scored 20 of his 30 points in the game's final 24 minutes, highlighted by a go-ahead bucket at the 9:26 mark and another with 2:34 left on the clock to put the Knicks up, 110-100.

Barrett overcame a 1-for-8 clip from long range and went 11-of-19 shooting inside the arc while adding six rebounds in 39 minutes.

3. Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes and Mitchell Robinson rounded out the Knicks' starting five, but the four-man bench -- Josh HartIsaiah Hartenstein, Miles McBride and Obi Toppin -- stepped up in their own ways throughout the course of the game.

Advertisement

Hartenstein did not score in his 23 minutes of action, but he notably grabbed 10 boards as the Knicks outrebounded the Lakers 46-37 and limited Anthony Davis to 17 points on 8-of-18 shooting.

4. After Barrett put the Knicks up, 110-100, with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter, New York could have unraveled but found a way to close out the game.

The Lakers went on an 8-0 run -- capped by Dennis Schroder's bucket at the 19-second mark -- to bridge the gap, but the Knicks responded. New York milked 14 seconds off the clock before the Lakers got an intentional foul in, and Hart nailed both free throws with five seconds left to put away the 112-108 final.

5. Former Net D'Angelo Russell led the Lakers, who were without LeBron James (right foot injury), by tying Randle with a game-high 33 points.

Advertisement

Russell went 13-of-19 shooting, including a 6-for-11 clip from long range, while adding five rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes.

Highlights

What's next

The Knicks (40-30) complete their four-game road trip with Tuesday's 10 p.m. finale at the Portland Trail Blazers (31-37), before they return home to MSG for Saturday's 1 p.m. tip against the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets (46-22).

New York is currently the Eastern Conference's sixth seed -- percentage points behind the fifth-place Nets (39-29), who knocked off the Nuggets, 122-120, Sunday in Denver.