Lakers Notebook: Five observations from an overtime loss to the Knicks

The Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks played a frantic game of basketball Tuesday night, ending with the Knicks pulling away in overtime. It wasn’t for a lack of effort from the Lakers, who put up a spirited effort and had a real chance to notch a victory in Madison Square Garden.

Here are five observations I jotted down while watching an entertaining game, straight from the Silver Screen and Roll cutting room floor.

1. Watching Lonzo Ball pass up opportunities like this... :

... in the flow of the offense is painful. The Lakers get the advantage they want by pushing the ball to Brandon Ingram in transition, but Lonzo needs to be thinking catch-and-shoot more often in these situation. It’s not the first nor last time we’ll see him do this.

The Lakers wound up with an even lower-percentage shot, with Ingram hoisting up a three with a defender in front of him. Credit the Knicks’ defense for taking care of the paint, which we’ll talk about again later:

2. Julius Randle once again implemented impressive late-game defensive sequences. Kristaps Porzingis went off for 37 points, but this possession in the fourth quarter was a sight to behold:

3. Luke Walton subbed Randle out with less than three minutes left in a one-possession game. As soon as he did, Kyle Kuzma was a victim of The Zinger. It was a solid shot contest from Kuz, but he just couldn’t overcome that size advantage:

4. Back to the Knicks’ defense, and an interesting set of plays from Ingram. New York did a good job of closing off the rim, knowing Brandon’s priority as a scorer as of late has been to drive into the lane. He started the game 0-for-10, struggling all night to finish inside:

Having to shoot over Kristaps is serious business, but it was a good learning experience for Brandon, and a good job by New York of dictating that battle:

5. Note that the time stamp in the play above from Ingram is 10:51 in the first quarter. The next play, at the 9:59 mark moments laters, shows Ingram adjusting to Porzingis’ defensive presence. Brandon once again gets into the paint, but this time he looks outside to kick it out to an open Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

These are the good decisions the Lakers are raving about when they talk about Ingram:

Shouts to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope making four of his 14 three-point attempts, certainly attributing to the loss.