Turnovers and cold shooting doomed the Knicks against the Lakers.
The New York Knicks came into Sunday's matchup at Crypto.com Arena riding a wave of confidence after blowing out the Denver Nuggets 142-103 just two days earlier, but the Los Angeles Lakers had other plans and handed New York a 110-97 loss that felt worse than the final score.
After the game, Knicks head coach Mike Brown did not sugarcoat how he felt about what went wrong.
"I thought we had some controllables that we didn't do a good job taking care of...and that's what's frustrating," Brown said.
Turnovers and Cold Shooting Tell the Story
The numbers backed up Brown's frustration in a big way, because the Knicks turned the ball over 18 times on the afternoon and shot just 8-of-34 from three-point range, which comes out to a rough 23.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Those are the types of things a team can control, and the Knicks failed to do it when it mattered.
Jalen Brunson did his part with 24 points and seven assists, but his seven turnovers were a problem that helped the Los Angeles Lakers get out in transition and build a lead that New York could never erase.
Karl-Anthony Towns was the Knicks' best player on the day with 25 points and 16 rebounds while going 8-of-8 from the free throw line, but even his strong performance was not enough to dig the team out of the hole they created for themselves.
The real concern was Mikal Bridges, who finished the game with zero points on 0-of-6 shooting, including 0-of-4 from three, in 27 minutes.
When the third or fourth option on a team like New York gives you nothing on the offensive end, it puts too much pressure on everyone else and makes it hard to keep up with a team that was firing on all cylinders.
The Lakers Took Advantage
Los Angeles jumped on the Knicks early with a 31-23 first quarter and then put the game away in the third with a 34-20 stretch that gave them a comfortable cushion heading into the fourth.
The Los Angeles Lakers moved to 39-25 on the season with the win, and they did it without LeBron James, who sat out with a left elbow injury.
Luka Doncic led the charge for Los Angeles, and his ability to pick apart the Knicks' defense in the third quarter was the turning point of the game.
Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura both provided solid contributions, and the Lakers' supporting cast played with the kind of energy and effort that Brown wished he had seen from his own team.
Where the Knicks Go From Here
The loss drops New York to 41-24 on the season, still sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference.
Brown has talked all year about using the regular season as a learning experience, and this game gave him plenty to work with heading into the rest of a five-game road trip.
The turnovers and the cold shooting from three are areas that have popped up before for this group, and Brown has been vocal about holding his players accountable when they do not take care of the little things.
Brunson is still averaging 26.2 points and 6.5 assists per game this season, and Towns continues to be one of the best rebounders in the league, but nights like Sunday show that even a talented roster can beat itself when the basics fall apart.
The Knicks are a good team with real championship hopes, but Brown knows that the controllables are what separate winning and losing in the NBA.
Sunday was a reminder that no matter how much talent you have, you still have to take care of the ball and knock down open shots if you want to win on the road against quality teams.
New York will look to bounce back when they visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.