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2025-26 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Lakers

The Knicks host the Lakers in what might be Lebron’s final game in the Garden.

Let’s go, Knicks!

Winning six in a row is two shy of eight, which would be really great!

243 replies on “2025-26 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Lakers”

not as desperate for a win as the game against toronto, would be nice though to regain some face after that terrible MLK game with the mavs…

I will gladly accept a “suck it, Hubert” when KAT actually turns in an all star performance.

I will gladly accept a “suck it, Hubert” when KAT actually turns in an all star performance.

I’m perfectly fine with the way he’s played the last few games

Hubert, please explain why you think we should trade our OTHER ALL-STAR for a group of journeymen…

You’ll see.

This winning streak and all star nod is exactly the uptick we should be selling on.

rama, I am also fine with it, but more as a stepping stone than an end point. KAT needs to rebuild aspects of his game by focusing on little things first, which will hurt his offense for a while. Hopefully once it becomes ingrained (or should I say if it does), he can go back to just playing more freely but without the bad fundamentals, e.g. the arm-hooking, reaching, flopping behind the basket, etc. So long as he goes on rebounding at an elite level and focusing on playing solid team offense and defense without fouling, I’m good.

Get with it, Hubert. KAT has turned the corner. Christmas is coming early this year.

ConKATulations big guy!

Our recent discussions about KAT remind me of discussions we used to have about Randle where some posters wanted to just get rid of him without getting much back. We were over reacting then and there is some of that about KAT now.

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Was mostly kidding Hubert, especially now that I’m seeing the lane wide open for Laker business.

Where’s C-diggy? I need some good regional Laker hate. Cuz I’m sure feeling it here…

I was really liking KAT’s decision making tonight and was going to comment on it. Then he picked up a stupid early 2nd.

Where’s C-diggy? I need some good regional Laker hate. Cuz I’m sure feeling it here…

Geo’s here 🙂

Considering the schedule coming up later this week it would behoove the Knicks not to lose tonight.

We really need to wipe that smile off Luka’s face

Can we get Schroeder? That would solve that problem and also give us a backup PG. 🤣

We really need to wipe that smile off Luka’s face

He was just messing with Brunson, they are friends.

We really need to wipe that smile off Luka’s face
He was just messing with Brunson, they are friends.

I was talking about the smile after every made 3

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Clyde would be having a field day with the defense they are playing.

Like Mitch double teaming LeBron when OG is on him.

Its funny about not believing the Luka trade I was at my brother’s house with a couple of friends we just finished watching Royal Rumble when the Luka news broke and we also thought Shams was hacked. We spent next hour watching Sportscenter to see the trade reactions.

I feel Joe Hendry – Raven said my name and I appeared (lol).

I almost forgot about this game until I got a text from the trolls.
Seriously, the Lakers have had our number recently at the Garden and it’s gotten annoying. LeBron likes to tap into the fountain of youth whenever he plays there.

Should I pay for Peacock just for this game?

When we drafted Diawara I definitely didn’t anticipate him finding himself matched up with LeBron James immediately

Imagine you are a twenty year old number 58 pick and you have to guard LeBron one on one.

Edit: My post crossed with TNFH

I don’t get it. Isn’t the home team supposed to be more aggressive and physical than the visitors?

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Is anyone else a little worried about Diawara’s upcoming restricted free agency or am I the only one brain damaged enough for that?

Not a novel thought, I know, but watching the Lakers really drives home how insane it is that they got Luka for a decrepit AD

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When you are the aggressor, you get the calls. When you play intimidated and play insecurely, you don’t.

Is anyone else a little worried about Diawara’s upcoming restricted free agency or am I the only one brain damaged enough for that?

As of now, i’m not. But if he keeps improving and earns playing time in the playoffs, i’ll be happy and super worried at the same time. 😉

Its coaching malpractice to have both OG and Bridges on the bench when Luka and LeBron are both on the floor.

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Its coaching malpractice to have both OG and Bridges on the bench when Luka and LeBron are both on the floor.

A lot of his decisions early on were forgivable because he was trying to figure out what works well within his system. But lately some of it makes no theoretical sense to me and then doesn’t seem to work well in real life.

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Besides Doncic and the old man LeBron, the Lakers got nothing! I can’t believe we are trailing this team! We need to bring energy, we need to our-hustle them.

Well that shot over Luka is going on Kolek’s career highlight reel even if he becomes a hall of famer

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All our bitching and we’re up 1

That’s because we upped our energy. Just two minutes was enough. They got nothing.

If Luka is gonna jack up terrible shots all game by all means…

Lakers are very top heavy

When Deuce returns gonna be interesting to see if Kolek remains in the rotation.

Insert here Oprah “you get minutes, and you get minutes, and you get minutes” 😉

So, we have to challenge when the refs got it wrong, but if Luka complains Lakers don’t need to call a challenge

At this point Hart vs KAT for 3PM on the season feels like an open question, which is insane

Gotta have to overcome shitty refereeing to win this one. The defensive intensity is not there and Brunson and KAT have been poor

We are in it. We are playing like shit, Brunson is bad, KAT is horrible, Bridges is invisible, and we are still in it. It’s up to us to get it together in the second half.

Refs missed a clear push of OG for the offensive rebound

I saw that too – seemed obvious, OG goes flying out of bounds. Lakers really get the calls.(And the no-calls)

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Of course there’s a female ref on the crew tonight…

I don’t think that makes a difference, we have been getting bad refereeing from all male crews too. 😉

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Lakers are bad defensively but we’re not taking advantage. We seem way too passive on drives.

It’s time we have a serious conversation about Tyler Kolek’s nickname. His chosen moniker “The Michael Jordan of Rhode Island” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

To me it’s obvious….TKO

The score is not what we want, but the game has been great so far, with playoff intensity and vibes. 🙂

That’s because we upped our energy. Just two minutes was enough. They got nothing.

They got nothing?

You realize their second best player who averages 26 ppg on .666 ts% has missed 25 games and they have virtually the same record as the Knicks playing in a much tougher conference, right?

Considering that 3 of our starters had pretty awful halves down 4 isn’t bad

Need to come out strong in the 3rd

You realize their second best player who averages 26 ppg on .666 ts% has missed 25 games and they have virtually the same record as the Knicks playing in a much tougher conference, right?

I am looking at who is on the floor tonight. They have LeBron and Luka. The rest are mediocre at best. Who is really good? Hachimura? Ayton? Smart?

Do we have a good team or not? If we do, we need to contain Luka as much as possible and we should be fine. As I said before, we play like shit and we are still in this one.

I have no idea if the shots will ever start falling again, but I’ll take KAT playing with this energy level

These announcers are glazing the Lakers so much, it’s embarrassing. Shame on Crawford. I expect it from Reggie but tough to listen to.

They should be talking about awful the Lakers D has been to start the 3rd instead of LeBron’s dunk

Someone could bring a club to the game and use it on Towns’ head and he wouldn’t get a call. I’ve sever seen anyone get a worse whistle. Even some rookies get a better whistle.

Love you OG.

I feel like the next “3pt revolution” should be “ban any double teams”. It’s the worst play in basketball.

When OG is in the mood to play both sides and shooting confidently, he’s super impactful.

Lots of iso ball from Luka and LeBron – making them work hard on offense and defense will bring us the W. Not sure who will step up on Lakers to help them

It’s nice to be up 8 when your best player is having an off night.

And watch him explode in the 4th quarter

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I think the key for the fourth is keep the weakest defenders from being switched onto Luka and LeBron inside the arc.

This may have to be a very short Kolek stint…although he made a great pass and great rebound, we need the captain in there. It didn’t help that we squandered a couple of possessions…OG should have gone up stronger.

Prove me wrong Tyler.

Feels like we should be up by more.

Btw, it’s nice having a coach who actually uses a timeout to disrupt a run while we are still leading. That would drive me crazy about Thibs.

I also hate Reggie’s commentary.

Oh I muted this in Q2 and went with Dire Straits instead.

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I’ve kept the sound off the entire game…

I can’t do it, i need to hear the players and the crowd.

A friend’s son is at the game and says the lady in question is named Sky Bri and she is one of those tiktok influencer/onlyfans types…

I have invited him to join the Knickerblogger editorial staff….

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Oh I muted this in Q2 and went with Dire Straits instead.

Great. I have already passed my Dire Straits love to my son, we now listen to Sultans of Swing for good luck when we go see our soccer club play away games. 🙂

A friend’s son is at the game and says the lady in question is named Sky Bri and she is one of those tiktok influencer/onlyfans types…

Are you talking about the lady ref?

I am talking about the woman sitting to Spike’s right

Challenge guy criminally underpaid

Shamet can really shoot

I am talking about the woman sitting to Spike’s right

Sorry, i guess i was lost in translation. LOL
Would be a thing to have a ref be influencer/onlyfans type. LOLOL

Remember the days when Shamet making the team was debated. He’s legitimately a plus player and not a liability on defense unless mismatched. Dude is winning games for us.

Congratulations to Cdiggy. And apologies for conjuring you.

AND Huk got a rebound!

Lakers scrub tried to hit a shot when the defense had stopped played, and still bricked it from mid-range.

I thnk it’s equal parts that Dillon is out of shape and that he has a long torso and short legs, accentuated by wearing short-shorts…

The Lakers shooting 28% from deep helped, but I am starting to think this defense might be real?

Can we talk about that 2nd half D? LOVED the way they rotated out to the perimeter in the second half to take away those open 3ball looks. And they did a good job of smothering LeBron and Luka when they tried to go to their pet moves.

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I know it cant be done, but KAT should assign his All-Star spot to OG.

If it works for the Nobel prize, it should work for the All-Star game.

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Yes, the defense once again looked fantastic in the second half. That first quarter though…

And here is a tweet Cyber explaining what I was referring to

Thanks Owen, i now understand why the lady was getting attention from you guys. 😉

It was a tail of two halves. Poor defense out of the gate, most starters didn’t have it, and we looked insecure. Improved as the game progressed. We were lucky to be down only four at the half. The second half was no contest. We imposed our game and will, played well, not our best but still very well, and outscored them by 16.

Denver plays at Detroit on Tuesday curious to see if Jokic plays both games of a back to back.

Can we talk about that 2nd half D? LOVED the way they rotated out to the perimeter in the second half to take away those open 3ball looks. And they did a good job of smothering LeBron and Luka when they tried to go to their pet moves.

What still gives me high hopes for the season is this, i think the team ups their game when they think it’s needed, and when they do it we are really really good. So my hope is that when the playoffs come we are on that level almost all game.

No apologies needed ever, Raven! Just sorry I haven’t been around more often.

marechal, I don’t think there’s any reason why this team can’t consistently play that kind of D… especially along the perimeter… as long as you have Hart, Bridges and OG healthy.

Thanks Owen, i now understand why the lady was getting attention from you guys.

There wasn’t a single part of her untouched by a razor. Not appealing. But to each their own….

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Very nice to win when JB was pretty stymied on offense. Others stepped up – OG, Hart, Shamet. Mikal and KAT not as terrible in the second half. Team defense looked totally different. Sweet win.

Ian eagle’s son looks like he’s 15 ….

Oh so that IS his son! Wow what a babyface.

OT: not my wife over here hating on me. Like, babe, how can you hate on NY like that when HALF THE MEN YOU DATED WERE FROM NY???

Very nice to win when JB was pretty stymied on offense

It’s great to see that when he’s scoring less, he is assisting more (13 assists). Just like it was nice to see KAT making up for less scoring by rebounding more the last 2 games (20+ rebounds).

Denver’s starting lineup is the epitome of a shit sandwich.

fwiw Peyton Watson has broken out in a pretty big way this year (60 TS%, 42% from 3) but yeah, I have no idea what a “Jalen Pickett” is and Spencer Jones is more famous for posting on LinkedIn daily than anything he’s done on the court.

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Another thing (and forgive me yall bc I haven’t really been able to watch games this szn so far): good things can happen when KAT takes the big guarding him off the dribble down the lane. He’s just gotta accept at this point that he’s not gonna get the calls he should when he’s on the move like that.

During this six-game winning streak we’ve held opponents to 28 or fewer points in 20 of 24 quarters, and we’ve held 5 of 6 teams to 100 or less, and Philly only got to 109. The D is really driving this nice run. Who woulda thunk it?

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feels like KAT is beginning to embrace his role more…

jalen needs to move the ball a bit more, take more shots on his second touch…

like KAT, jalen also needs less floor and spectator seating time after driving to the rim…

As someone who has been very critical of KAT, I thought he turned the game in the first half of the 3rd Q. He didn’t play well at times, but he was once again a positive overall. And he definitely is getting a bad whistle.

Gotta throw a little love to Brunson’s defense during this streak. Brown also pointed it out in a press conference the other day

During the 2-9 stretch he was as bad as advertised but lately he’s been doing a pretty admirable job staying in front of his man and holding his own on the defensive end.

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We are surely in our best stretch of the season right now. We are not simply outscoring teams like we were doing in December; we shut them down when we need to. It’s not consistent yet, we saw this again today, but we have shown we can do it. If we can sustain this level of defense, particularly against good teams, then we can believe. Time will tell.

Koleg played 14 minutes and although he was a bit erratic, he was a +3 overall, which is all you can ask for when Brunson is resting.

Giannis is injured and it would be nice if OG were his replacement for the ASG. He really deserves it!

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Let’s also take a moment to thank Hart for going a hyper-efficient 8-11 (73%), including 3-4 from three (and no turnovers!).

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Hart’s 3pt shooting scares the shit out of me because it looks kinda sustainable, as if he and the new shooting coach found something. Still, tough to not worry when he shoots it.

Winning a game like this where OG, Josh, and Shamet are our top 3 scorers is pretty awesome.

If KAT can establish a floor to his game with rebounding and defense without fouling, I think that’ll serve him well on nights when he’s not getting calls. He needs a constant he can go back to instead of raging about what’s not in his control (and tbh I don’t know what the fuck is going on with the whistle he gets sometimes either.)

Ideally Hart would be comfortable getting his 3PA up to 7 or 8 a game and then he would start bending opposing defenses like a true-blue floor spacer. But, baby steps. I of course am very pleased to see him shooting 40% and even taking a pull-up 3 or two per game.

The Nets’ starting lineup scored a total of 28 points tonight on the way to another 50+ point loss.

He’s had a down year and has dealt with some injuries, but Jarrett Allen gave the Cavs a whole lot of production today for $243,000.

The Knicks are now 1-0 when a porn star sits right next to Spike Lee, during the shot clock era.

A friend’s son is at the game and says the lady in question is named Sky Bri and she is one of those tiktok influencer/onlyfans types…

More on Druski and Sky Bri

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