Lakers erase double-digit lead to beat Knicks in OT for 8th straight win

The Los Angeles Lakers faced perhaps their stiffest test since Luka Dončić entered their lineup on Thursday. They passed.

Facing a 40-21 New York Knicks team sitting in third place in the East, the Lakers came back from down double digits in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, then emerged with a 113-109 win. It was their eighth straight victory.

Dončić led the way with 32 points on 9-of-23 shooting, 12 assists, seven rebounds and four steals, while LeBron James contributed 31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. They are now 12-2 since the Dončić trade.

Unfortunately, the overtime period was deflated with a minute left when Jalen Brunson rolled his ankle while driving to the basket. Further replay showed his foot landed at an extremely ugly angle on the foot of Austin Reaves, who was called for a foul.

Brunson, who was in visible pain on the floor, stayed in the game to shoot his free throws and tie the game, then left for the locker room. He did not return and finished with 39 points and 10 assists.

The final minutes of the fourth quarter were a classic in their own right. After trailing for the entire third quarter and most of the third, the Lakers got back into the game with a 10-1 run and continued to exchange blows from there.

A Gabe Vincent 3-pointer, set up by an assist from LeBron James and a missed charge call by the officials, gave the Lakers their first lead since early in the second quarter.

The Knicks responded. A Jalen Brunson and-1 tied the game with 46 seconds left, and defensive stops by both teams sent the game to overtime. The Knicks had a great chance to win it at the buzzer, but strong defense by the Lakers forced Brunson to offload the ball to Josh Hart, who failed to get a would-be game-winner off before time expired.

If the game was a stress test, the new-look Lakers showed they were for real. The win improved their record to 40-21, good for second place in the West with 21 games left in the regular season.

If the season ended tomorrow, they would face the winner of a play-in game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.