Knicks lose to Lakers in overtime; Jalen Brunson leaves with ankle injury

LOS ANGELES — In the hallway outside the Knicks’ locker room in the bowels of Crypto.com Arena, Jalen Brunson had just finished up his pregame workout and was headed in when from behind a curtain down the corridor, a voice yelled, “JB!” Brunson immediately took off running to greet the hidden player.

The voice came from Luka Doncic, taking the opportunity to reunite with his former teammate, as unlikely as it may have seemed that the Dallas Mavericks would part with both of them with both clearly in their prime.

“Nothing surprises me in the NBA,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But I think it’s the nature of our league now, the constant change. You have to be prepared for everything.”

Doncic and Brunson dueled into overtime, and the worst scenario for the Knicks wasn’t their 113-109 loss to the Lakers. It was that with 1:24 remaining in OT, Brunson drove to the rim, and as he was fouled, he came down awkwardly on Austin Reaves’ foot, badly turning his right ankle.

Clearly in pain, he struggled to get up, and after hitting both free throws to tie the score at 107 and give him all eight Knicks points in OT at that juncture, he was removed from the game and headed directly to the locker room, limping badly.

The Lakers took over from there, scoring the next four points, but all that and the back-and-forth contest seemed inconsequential. The much bigger picture is how the Knicks will survive if Brunson is sidelined for an extended period of time.

The Knicks will play the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night as the second step in their five-game West Coast trip.

It’s easy to see just why the new-look Lakers suddenly have struck fear into the rest of the league. Trailing by 13 in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth, they held the Knicks to 15 points in the fourth and earned their eighth straight win.

Doncic had 32 points and 12 assists and LeBron James added 31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. That was just enough to overcome the 39-point, 10-assist performance by Brunson.

While few doubted the recent acquisition of Doncic, just how fast it has come together for the Lakers might be the most impressive part.

“I always feel like great players always figure it out,” Thibodeau said. “They’re used to playing in a lot of different situations where you had to adapt quickly. All of LeBron’s experiences with Team USA and those teams come together very quickly. They understand the game so well and how to adapt. It really doesn’t surprise me. As time goes on, they add layers to it.”

The Knicks held a 90-80 lead with 6:57 left, but James’ three-pointer tied it at 96 and Gabe Vincent’s three with 1:21 left gave the Lakers a three-point lead.

Brunson’s three-point play tied it at 99 with 46.4 seconds left in regulation.

Dorian Finney-Smith missed from three-point range, but James grabbed the rebound, and after a foul, the Lakers had the ball with 22 seconds to play. James missed a three and the Knicks rebounded with 9.1 seconds remaining.

The Knicks put the ball in Brunson’s hands, but the Lakers quickly sent two defenders at him. He gave it to Josh Hart, who hit a driving layup, but the ball left his hand just after time expired, sending the game to overtime.

After Brunson hit the two free throws on the play in which he was injured, Jaxson Hayes sank two free throws and James hit two more for a 111-107 Lakers lead with 38.6 seconds left in overtime. OG Anunoby (20 points) drove for a layup and was fouled but missed the free throw, and James hit two free throws with 9.4 seconds left to clinch it.