Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks: Postgame Grades and Analysis
In a rare occurrence for the New York Knicks, the team put together a wire-to-wire win against the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday at home, 92-80.
Carmelo Anthony led the way for New York with 31 points, including 18 in a dominant third quarter. The Lakers struggled to put together any sort of success on either end, shooting just 36 percent.
Jordan Clarkson and Carlos Boozer led LA with 19 points apiece, though it wasn't nearly enough to have the team competing Sunday.
| Jordan Clarkson | B- |
| Jeremy Lin | B- |
| Robert Sacre | D |
| Carlos Boozer | B |
| Rest of Team | F |
| Jose Calderon | B- |
| Langston Galloway | B- |
| Carmelo Anthony | A |
| Jason Smith | B |
| Rest of Team | B+ |
Los Angeles Lakers
Jordan Clarkson: B-
He's enjoyed a pleasant stretch since being inserted as a prime piece of this futile Lakers team, but like the rest of the bunch Sunday, Jordan Clarkson struggled with his shot early, finishing 6-of-13. He did have an impact from the line, going four-of-six, though it wasn't nearly enough to carry Los Angeles' offense against the energized Knicks. He and Boozer led the way with 19—he also came away with two steals.
With Jeremy Lin moved to the bench and Ronnie Price not playing, the point duties were largely up to Clarkson. And while he led the team in scoring, he wasn't able to dish out many assists (one) and sported a team-worst minus-18 on the afternoon.
In the stagnant Lakers offense, Clarkson often found himself with the ball as the shot clock was quickly approaching zero, forcing him into several poor shot attempts. Some fell—like a banked three in the third quarter—but a large number of them did not.
Jeremy Lin: B-
In another edition of a Linsanity return to Madison Square Garden, Jeremy Lin wasn't able to get much of anything going against his former team. He played 24 minutes and led the team in assists with seven, but shot only one-of-three, finishing with four points.
In the same arena that housed his miraculous run in February 2012, today's game represented just how far both Lin and the Knicks have fallen since. Lin is hardly able to make an impact in a diminished role on a bad team, and the Knicks are in the conversation for the league's worst team.
Robert Sacre: D
Of the 19 players to step foot on the Garden floor Sunday, Robert Sacre was the only one to not connect from the field. On 0-for-6 shooting, he finished with two points from the free-throw line and eight boards in 22 minutes.
Sacre missed an almost comical amount of bunnies from in close, sometimes even grabbing his own miss and chucking up another one—partially explaining his inflated rebound total. It's a depressing time for the Lakers these days, and Sacre starting at center for LA tells you a lot about their current state.
Carlos Boozer: B
As one of the only Lakers with an ability to create offense on his own, Carlos Boozer has been forced into a bigger role than expected with Nick Young and Kobe Bryant out of the lineup. Leading the team in shots, he finished with a team-high 19 points and 10 boards.
He clanked a fair number of high-arcing jumpers off the rim but still landed enough to lead the team with six made field-goals. The team shot a putrid 35.5 percent, and Boozer's mediocre performance was good enough to lead the team.
Rest of Team: F
It didn't matter who it was for LA on Sunday—starters and reserves alike both had a rough go of it against the Knicks' 28th ranked defense.
Wayne Ellington and Ryan Kelly started for Byron Scott and combined to shoot 4-of-16. Ed Davis didn't log huge minutes but generally had a positive impact while he was on the floor—though he finished with just nine points and five boards in 22 minutes.
Nick Young didn't suit up, missing his third straight game with a bum ankle—or so we thought. Swaggy P implied postgame that he may have been a healthy scratch.
Jordan Hill started in the frontcourt but was removed from the game after suffering a leg injury after just seven minutes. That is something to monitor with the Lakers moving forward.
New York Knicks
Jose Calderon: B-
The Knicks enjoyed success from three-point range Sunday, but, interestingly, Jose Calderon wasn't a huge part of it. He drilled his only attempt from beyond the arc, finishing with nine points, four assists and two steals.
Calderon gave way to Shane Larkin and Langston Galloway as the game became out of reach for Los Angeles. The Spaniard finished with 26 mostly quiet minutes, though he didn't do anything to hurt New York in his time on the floor.
Langston Galloway: B-
Now guaranteed to be a part of the Knicks' future—at least for next season— Galloway has impressed over his 13 games with the team. In his seventh NBA start, the rookie finished with 13 points, five rebounds and a block over his 30 minutes with just one turnover.
The Knicks have to be encouraged by what Galloway has shown, especially considering his undrafted, NBA Developmental League roots. He's able to make jumpers, get in the lane and make an impact on D—all three were on display against the Lakers. He's costing the Knicks the minimum this year and is up for the same price next season on a non-guaranteed basis.
Carmelo Anthony: A
Carmelo Anthony is to these Knicks what Kobe Bryant was to these Lakers, except 'Melo is still in his athletic prime and shooting the ball roughly seven percent more efficiently from the field.
Anthony put together the best quarter of any Knicks player this season in the third, going for 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. On the afternoon, he totaled 31 points and eight boards.
Knicks fans may have seen the star's highest leap since his Denver Nuggets days in the second quarter, when Anthony rose all the way up to finish a lob pass from Jason Smith. It was only his 15th dunk of the year—though he's been seeing more looks on backdoor lobs in recent games.
Despite Anthony's frequent injury woes this season, he's still able to put together stretches of greatness, and today was a prime example. Whether or not he should've shut it down by now is a debate for a different day, but there's no questioning how fun it is to watch 'Melo play when he's in the zone.
Jason Smith: B
In the middle of a rough campaign for the Knicks, Jason Smith enjoyed a much-needed solid afternoon against the Lakers. He put together an impressive first quarter, scoring nine. Though he wasn't able to string together many numbers the rest of the way, he wrapped up with four assists and three rebounds.
Regardless of the final stat line, it had to feel good for Smith to be a positive on the floor. He battled foul trouble throughout much of the afternoon, but did play a role in the Knicks' huge win.
Rest of Team: B+
New York enlisted a well-balanced attack Sunday, save for a scorching third-quarter stretch from Anthony. Lou Amundson grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds to go along with six points and a pair of blocks.
Newcomer Lance Thomas played just 16 minutes and wasn't able to put together much offense on just three shots. Tim Hardaway Jr. struggled from the field to start the afternoon, but recovered well to finish with eight points. Larkin and Quincy Acy combined for 14, the latter adding eight boards and two steals.
Up Next
Now with 10 wins on the season, the Knicks may actually have a chance to salvage things in the coming weeks. Just three of their next 10 opponents boast records over .500, and in a terrible Eastern Conference, a march to the fringe of the playoff conversation may not even be out of the question, as the Detroit Pistons just showed us last month.
The team's new makeup is far less established than it was at the season's onset, but with Derek Fisher developing as a coach as the season progresses and the young Knicks becoming more comfortable with each other, Phil Jackson has to be content with the look of things right now.
Los Angeles, now 13-35, takes on Jason Kidd's Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday after two days of rest. They'll surely look to rebound from a wire-to-wire loss in which they shot just 35.5 percent against the Knicks.
Statistics courtesy of ESPN.com.
