Six in the city: Knicks level LeBron James, Lakers

Waiting all day for Sunday night proved to be well worth it for New York Knicks fans.

Headlining a new Sunday night showcase for NBC at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks put up a 112-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers to close out the weekend. New York further distanced itself from its post-NBA Cup funk with its sixth consecutive victory, matching its longest official tally of the season.

It was a balanced, captivating coup in what could be LeBron James’ final showing at MSG: OG Anunoby led the way with 25 points on a night where seven of nine Knicks that entered before a bench evacuation in the final minute scored at least eight points.

https://x.com/IQfor3/status/2018148987677634644

Landry Shamet had 20 off the bench, the last six coming through a pair of clutch threes that served as the daggers. It was a sour shooting night for Jalen Brunson (4-of-15) but the Knicks captain dished out a season-best 13 assists.

New York (31-18) trailed by four at halftime despite a bench breakout from Shamet and Tyler Kolek in a second period that saw headliners Anunoby, Brunson, and Mikal Bridges held scoreless. Luka Doncic put in 18 over the opening 24 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the shocking trade that removed him from the Dallas Mavericks.

The Knicks scored the first five points in the opening minute of the second half to draw the lead back but James drew metropolitan awe once more with a showstopping alley-oop from Marcus Smart. It began a series of lead-changes and ties where neither team led by more than six.

A pair of consecutive fastbreak opportunities began to flip momentum in the Knicks’ lasting favor: Brunson got loose on a Karl-Anthony Towns steal of Doncic, but allowed Anunoby to deliver home the dramatic double that created a 77-all tie.