Lakers' stifling defense gives them OT win over Knicks

After the Knicks went into halftime with a 60-51 lead, the Lakers held them to just 39 points in the second half, and 15 points in the final quarter. They started the second half by forcing a shot clock violation and ended it by denying Jalen Brunson the ball so aggressively that he had to dish to Josh Hart, who failed to get a shot up at the buzzer.

The game went to overtime and the Lakers came away with a 113-109 win. For an eight-minute stretch spanning the fourth quarter and most of OT, the only Knick who could score was Jalen Brunson. When he left after suffering an ankle sprain on a drive to the basket, the Lakers defense got even more stifling.

Karl-Anthony Towns averages 24.2 points this season. He had 12 Thursday night, five after halftime and none in the final 14:50 of regulation and overtime. Los Angeles got defensive contributions up and down the roster, from backup guard Gabe Vincent to Jarred Vanderbilt (two steals, one block) to Luka Doncic and his four steals.