This Tuesday, the (23-27) Los Angeles Lakers will travel to New York, NY to take on the (27-24) New York Knicks. Tipoff will be at 7:30 PM EST inside Madison Square Garden. This will be the first meeting between these two teams this season, as I am expecting a battle in this one.
The Lakers are coming into this one after falling to the Boston Celtics, 125-121 in OT. They also challenged the Nets on Monday night. They struggled on the defensive end of the court, as they will have to get more stops in this one if they want to challenge the Knicks on the road.
The New York Knicks are entering this game after falling to the Brooklyn Nets, 122-115. New York struggled on the offensive end of the floor, as they will have to be more efficient in this one if they want to take down the Lakers at home.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in 13th place in the Western Conference standings, as they are 11 games back from the first-place Denver Nuggets. On offense, they are scoring 117.1 points per game and they have shot 48.2% from the floor. This is the fifth most points scored per contest and the eighth-highest team shooting percentage. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Lakers have the 21st-highest adjusted offensive rating in the NBA. Lebron James continues to lead the way on the offensive end of the floor, as he is scoring 30.2 points per game on 50.7% shooting. Make sure to check the injury report, though. He and Anthony Davis were both out in Monday night's game against the Nets. Los Angeles has also shown that they are much more successful when they are attacking the basket. They have only shot 33.6% from behind the arc, which is the 26th-highest three-point shooting percentage in the league. The Lakers have also shot 78.8% at the charity stripe, which is the 13th-highest free-throw shooting percentage.
On the defensive end of the court, the Lakers are surrendering 118.1 points per game and their opponents have shot 47.2% from the floor. This is the 27th most points given up per game and the 13th-lowest shooting percentage allowed. According to dunksandthrees.com, Los Angeles has the 19th-lowest adjusted defensive rating in the NBA. The Lakers have shown that they will consistently close out on open jump shooters, though. They are only allowing their opponents to shoot 34.7% from deep, which is the third-lowest three-point shooting percentage allowed in the league. The Los Angeles Lakers are also snatching 44.9 rebounds per game, which is the sixth most. They will have to crash the offensive and defensive glass if they want to stay competitive in this game.
Injury Report: Lonnie Walker IV SG (Knee) is probable. Anthony Davis C (Foot) and Lebron James SF (Ankl e) are questionable. Austin Reaves PG (Hamstring) is out.