Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) passes the ball to a teammate while being guarded by by New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) shoots the ball while being guarded by New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) and New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart (36) stops the ball from going out of bounds during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) and forward Rui Hachimura embrace at the end of the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby, top, and Lakers guard Marcus Smart reach for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers center Deandre Ayton (5) and New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) jump up for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, bottom, and New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby, right, fight for possession of the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers players on the bench react after Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (2) scores a 3-pointer during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) falls onto the players on the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) talk while sitting on the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts after a play during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts to a call during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Television host and comedian Bill Maher attends the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Show Caption1 of 13Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) passes the ball to a teammate while being guarded by by New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) Expand LOS ANGELES — Little has been done for the Lakers to diffuse claims over their efforts against NBA finals contenders. Or even to quell the noise; it’s been less than a month since Oklahoma City and San Antonio ran amok over the Lakers on their home court. So, beating the New York Knicks 110-97 in a Sunday matinee at Crypto.com Arena, handling the third-place team in the Eastern Conference with championship aspirations, provided the Lakers with what coach JJ Redick calls a “reference point.” Or in this case, a signal that they can hold their own even when LeBron James isn’t available like he was Sunday. “This wasn’t an offensive game,” Redick said. “It wasn’t gonna be an offensive game. This was gonna be a gritty, tough game that we had to win with effort. And we did that.” Luka Doncic (35 points on 11-of-25 shooting) and Austin Reaves (25 points on 8-of-16 shooting) led the way for the Lakers (39-25), using a game-winning third-quarter scoring run – outscoring the Knicks 34-20 – to head into the fourth quarter up by 19 points. Doncic’s circus shot, one of his five buckets in the third quarter, with 8:55 on the clock, wholly described the Lakers’ performance Sunday. The Slovenian star faked a shot from the left wing, forcing Knicks forward OG Anunoby into a shot-blocking position, before firing off a fadeaway 3-pointer while falling into the courtside crowd as the shot clock hit zero. Doncic’s shot, as with what feels like a trend of the MVP candidate making seemingly impossible attempts, swirled down the net. All Anunoby could do was smile and jog back down the court. “When it left my hand, I had a good feeling,” said Doncic, who added eight rebounds and four assists to his stat line Sunday. “I’m not going to say I knew it was going in, but I had a good feeling.” The Lakers then led 65-56, holding the Knicks to just 13 points for the rest of the quarter. The Knicks (41-24) made a storming fourth-quarter comeback, cutting the lead to 10 after forward Karl-Anthony Towns sunk a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:25 remaining, but it was too little, too late as the Lakers staved off the run when guard/forward Luke Kennard drilled a 3 of his own to push the lead back to 13 points. Deandre Ayton started the game with some of his best energy in recent weeks. He stuffed Knicks forward Karl-Anthony Towns and guard Josh Hart at the rim, hustled for an offensive rebound, which became a second-chance 3 for Reaves and slammed home an alley-oop dunk off an assist from Doncic to force Mike Brown into a timeout with the Lakers up 11-4. As Ayton walked to the bench, at the five-minute mark in the first quarter, Redick rewarded his starting big man – who hadn’t played since he exited the first quarter of Thursday’s game in Denver with left knee soreness – with loud, directed claps, while guard Marcus Smart stood to greet his locker mate with appreciation. “I think the way we’ve kind of coached him has been very consistent,” Redick said of Ayton pregame, preaching adaptability and hoping to help his center get in a rhythm as the season enters the home stretch. “And so ultimately, the player has to be consistent. And that’s not to say, that’s not knock on DA, that’s just the NBA.” By the end of the first quarter, the waves of energy – originally built off Ayton’s early play – led the Lakers to a 31-23 advantage. Ayton finished with eight rebounds, two coming on the offensive glass. “He was great,” Redick said of Ayton after the game. “I thought the pursuit of the basketball, loose balls, going to block shots. There was a couple times where he was outside the play, shot goes up, he goes and pursues the rebound. I thought he played really hard tonight. He was great.” Reaves, who Redick said Sunday morning he wanted to play aggressively and drive into the paint each time he touched the ball, did so throughout the second quarter. The 27-year-old guard converted a running floater along the baseline to place the Lakers ahead 35-29, drove to the rim for a layup to extend the lead to 11 points and helped halt a Knicks 9-2 run before halftime with a four-foot jumper from inside the paint to take a 54-49 lead. Reaves said he thought the game came down to simply playing harder than the Knicks did, executing through contact throughout the game. “I just thought we played hard, stuck to the game plan and competed,” said Reaves who had five assists and four rebounds. “That’s what it came down to.” Added Doncic on his teammate: “Playing with him is so easy, because he draws so much attention, you know, helps others too. So, just playing with him, it makes my life easy.” During the second quarter, the Lakers found energy across a three-minute stretch with Reaves on the floor alongside bench role players Maxi Kleber, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Marcus Smart, holding the Knicks to 1 for 5 from the field, tallying three forced turnovers, including a steal from Kleber and a block from Reaves. Even Vanderbilt, who hadn’t made a 3-pointer in two weeks, drilled a corner look after nifty ball movement found him alone beyond the arc. “I think we are very active in that stretch, especially Vando,” Hachimura said. “I think Vando was playing so good on defensive side, I think he was very active. That kind of helped us.” Towns led the Knicks with 25 points, while guard Jalen Brunson helped pace the Knicks with 24 points himself in defeat. The Lakers held the Knicks to 23.5% from 3-point range. Doncic said after the game that he took pride in the fact that they held the Knicks under 100 points, something that only happened six times entering Sunday’s contest. The Lakers became the sixth team to achieve the feat, against the Knicks, who average more than 117 points per game, this season. “I thought they were the more physical team,” Redick said of the Knicks, “and tonight, we were the more physical team.” Related Articles LeBron James misses 2nd straight game for 1st time since season’s start Lakers thriving as Luka Doncic and Jaxson Hayes connect Luka Doncic dominates Pacers in 44-point effort for LeBron-less Lakers Lakers’ LeBron James sits out against Pacers after elbow injury LeBron James breaks another Kareem Abdul-Jabbar record in Lakers’ loss to Nuggets ...read more read less