Summer League Lakers struggle offensively, fall to Knicks in Las Vegas

Immanuel Quickley did a bit of everything on both ends of the floor on Wednesday night, scoring 25 points with seven assists offensively while playing a big role in limiting the Lakers backcourt of Mac McClung and Austin Reaves to just nine points as the Knicks earned a 91-82 win at the Las Vegas Summer League.

Both Summer League hero Reaves and McClung, one day removed from officially being announced as a Laker, struggled mightily from the field offensively, the former shooting 1-of-8 from the field in 22 minutes and the latter finishing 2-of-9 overall in 23 minutes.

Quickley led all scorers while Miles McBride came off the bench for the Knicks to score 20 points on a perfect 6-of-6 night from the 3-point line. Obi Topping scored 17 points with 11 rebounds.

For the Lakers, Vic Law and Devontae Cacok each had 14 points and four rebounds with the latter chipping in four assists. Joel Ayayi added 11 points and five assists and Trevelin Queen had 13 off the bench.

The Knicks jumped out to a lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter behind Toppin, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Law helped steady the ship for the Lakers but the purple and gold could never level the score in the first frame.

An early run in the second quarter cut the margin down to 25-24. with a chance to take the lead, the Lakers strung together a handful of empty possessions that never allowed them to push past the Knicks. It was a theme for the quarter as the Lakers would eventually tie the game at 28-28 before Ayayi finally gave the Lakers a lead on a fastbreak layup, their first of the game.

After a brief reprieve following Chaundee Brown blowing out his shoe - ironically a pair of Zion 1s from Air Jordan - the Knicks reclaimed the lead, pushing it to as large as seven points heading into the half at 40-33. Quickley was the lone player on either side in double figures in scoring with 10 points at the break.

New York’s lead bounced from five to 10 points in the first half of the third quarter as an inconsistent offense continued to trouble the Lakers. Again, though, a quick 14-3 run sparked on the defensive end allowed Justin Robinson to tie the game on a layup and give the Lakers a 52-50 lead on a pull-up jumper in successive possessions.

McBride gave New York the lead on the ensuing possession with a corner 3-pointer. From there, the two teams traded baskets and the lead throughout the remainder of the third quarter with New York taking a 58-57 advantage into the final frame.

Early in the fourth, 3-pointers from McBride and Toppin, the latter a four-point play, gave New York a 65-61 lead before Queen answered with a 3-pointer and Reaves a layup to push back ahead at 66-65.

A pair of 3-pointers from McBride sandwiched a response from Yoeli Childs to keep New York up 75-71. Quickley’s layup at the 4:32 mark pushed the advantage to six points.

A layup through a foul from Devontae Cacok and a 3-pointer from Robinson cut the lead down to two points at 82-80 in the final minutes. But McBride, who was nearly automatic all night for the Knicks, knocked down a 3-pointer to push it back to a two-possession game. A tip-in from Cacok pulled the Lakers back to within three points before the final minute of action in which the Lakers never got closer.

The Lakers will be back in action on Friday against the Clippers at 7 p.m. PDT on NBATV.

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