The Los Angeles Lakers (10-15) head to Madison Square Garden for a Tuesday evening matchup against the New York Knicks (13-13).
The Lakers will enter the game on a two-game winning streak; both wins coming on the road. After defeating the Philadelphia 76ers last Thursday, they beat the Charlotte Hornets 110-99 in their most recent game on Saturday. Trailing by four at halftime, Los Angeles was able to outscore the Hornets 58-43 in the second half. Jordan Clarkson led the way with 22 points off the bench, and five other players also reached double figures in scoring.
The Knicks won a tight game at home on Sunday defeating the Atlanta Hawks by the score of 111-107. Kristaps Porzingis led the team with 30 points while three other players reached new season-highs in scoring (Doug McDermott 23, Jarrett Jack 19, Ron Baker 9).
Projected starting lineups for Lakers/Knicks
Lakers: PG - Lonzo Ball, SG - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SF - Brandon Ingram, PF - Larry Nance Jr., C - Brook Lopez
Knicks: PG - Jarrett Jack, SG - Courtney Lee, SF - Lance Thomas, PF - Kristaps Porzingis, C - Enes Kanter
Lakers/Knicks leaders
Lakers: Scoring - Brandon Ingram 16.2, Rebounding - Lonzo Ball 6.8, Assists - Lonzo Ball 7.1
Knicks: Scoring - Kristaps Porzingis 25.5, Rebounding - Enes Kanter 10.3, Assists - Jarrett Jack 6.0
Injury report
Lakers: none
Knicks: Out - Tim Hardaway Jr.
(leg)
What to know for Tuesday’s game
The Lakers and Knicks do not rely on the three-pointer as they currently are 29th and 30th out of 30 teams in made threes. Los Angeles makes 8.1 per game only more than the Knicks’ 8.0. The Lakers are last in three-point percentage, and the Knicks are 23rd.
New York can tie the San Antonio Spurs for the most home wins this season with 13 (albeit in 18 games, Spurs have played 15 home games).
The Knicks went just 19-22 at home last season and didn’t record their 13th win at Madison Square Garden until January 27.
Kristaps Porzingis will hope to build upon his first 30-point game in nearly a month. He scored 30 in Sunday’s win over the Hawks, a point threshold he hadn’t reached since November 11. He had scored less than 30 in 10 straight games after previously reaching that mark in eight of his first 11 games.
Regular season history of Lakers/Knicks
The Lakers and Knicks have met 285 times in the regular season, and the Lakers hold a 166-119 advantage in the win column. Since they moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis, they have defeated New York in 120 of 194 games.
The Knicks had won five in a row in the head-to-head matchup until the Lakers came out on top in the most recent matchup on February 6 last season in Madison Square Garden. New York had also won the previous five games in their home building against Los Angeles prior to that game.
