New York Knicks Are Abysmal in 4th Quarter, Lose to Los Angeles Lakers 99-82

Through the first three games of the season, the New York Knicks have found fourth quarters to be pivotal.  The Knicks entered the fourth quarter trailing 80-72 in Los Angeles Thursday night. The Lakers went on to outscore the Knicks 19-10 as the New York Knicks shot a mere 3-of-14.  

The Knicks are hoping that their fourth-quarter woes will not be a continuing trend.  On Wednesday night, they entered the fourth quarter tied with the Golden State Warriors. The Knicks were outscored 28-14 by Golden State and lost the game 92-78.  New York only made 5-of-19 shots in the fourth quarter against the Warriors. In the last two nights, the Knicks are a combined 8-of-33 and have been outscored 47-24.  

After their exciting comeback on Christmas afternoon against the Boston Celtics, it looked like the Knicks were going to start the season very strong.  New York had trailed 87-79 going into the final twelve minutes, before they clicked and scored 27 points and made seven of their 12 shots.  Carmelo Anthony stepped up and scored 17 in the fourth, matching the total of the entire Celtics team.

It is imperative that the Knicks define themselves as a team that flourishes in the final minutes of the game rather than a team that self-destructs at the end of games.  Although they had not led since they were up 19-17 against the Lakers, it was a close game.  It did not have the feel of a game that was out of reach for the Knicks, until the fourth quarter. 

It is still early for the Knicks, who have new pieces and not as much practice as they should have had in a normal season.  But every team is going to have to deal with it this year, and the best teams will be those that can come together the quickest as the season progresses.  

The New York Knicks (1-2) continue their West Coast swing against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night and might have to take the court without Amare Stoudemire, who is day-to-day after leaving the game in the final minutes with an ankle injury.  

The Los Angeles Lakers (2-2), who started 0-2, face the Denver Nuggets at home on Saturday afternoon and look for their third straight win.