LeBron James, Lakers roar back to knock off Knicks

LeBron James scored 29 points in his return from a knee injury and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit before beating the visiting New York Knicks 122-115 in overtime on Saturday, February 5 (Sunday, February 6, Manila time).

Malik Monk also had 29 points and Anthony Davis added 28 as the Lakers won for just the second time in their last six games. James added 13 rebounds and 10 assists after missing five games with left knee swelling. Los Angeles went 1-4 in those games.

Monk scored 18 points in the third quarter as the Lakers turned a 71-56 halftime deficit into an 87-84 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Knicks had just 13 points total in the third quarter.

RJ Barrett scored a career-high 36 points and Julius Randle added 32 for the Knicks, who lost for the fifth time in their last six games.

Barrett made a three-pointer with 8.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game 111-all and send it into overtime after the Knicks trailed 108-99 with 2:22 remaining in regulation.

Evan Fournier scored 15 points as New York fell in the opener of a five-game Western Conference road trip.

The Knicks went on the attack early with quick possessions while shooting 68.2% in the first quarter. New York took a 42-29 lead after the opening 12 minutes in their highest-scoring quarter of the season.

The Knicks led by 21 points multiple times in the first half, the last at 68-47 with 1:57 remaining before the break.

The second half was all Lakers as they opened the third quarter on a 24-8 run to take their first lead of the game at 80-79 with 4:42 remaining in the period. Monk was 6-of-9 from the field in the third quarter and 3-of-4 from three-point range.

Davis had 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who had five different players score in overtime. Russell Westbrook had just 5 points and went 1-of-10 from the field in 29 minutes for Los Angeles.

Alec Burks had 12 points for the Knicks, while Randle had 16 rebounds. – Rappler.com