Knicks takeaways from Tuesday’s 129-123 OT loss to the Lakers, including another All-Star worthy performance from Jalen Brunson

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) brings the ball up court against the Portland Trail Blazers during the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden / Brad Penner – USA TODAY Sports

Despite another All-Star worthy performance from Jalen Brunson, the Knicks suffered a 129-123 overtime loss to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Here are some takeaways..

Tom Thibodeau stuck with the same starting five of Jalen Brunson, Quentin Grimes, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Jericho Sims.

After missing Monday night’s game against the Nets, James and Anthony Davis returned to the Lakers’ lineup.

– The Knicks got off to a brutal start in this one. They started just two for sixteen from the field, including 0-for-5 from three, and had just five points with six minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The Lakers also got off to a bit of a slow start, but eventually were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted on the court. In his fourth game with LA, Rui Hachimura had seven early points, LeBron had five and four boards, and Davis had seven points of his own.

Coming out of a timeout with four minutes remaining in the quarter, Randle and Immanuel Quickley drained back-to-back threes to end the scoring schnide. The Knicks used that to propel them to a 10-2 scoring run, cutting the deficit down to two.

The Lakers finished the quarter making eight straight shots, but a Brunson three at the buzzer made it 29-24 at the end of one. Los Angeles shot a stellar 66.7 percent from the field in the first, and despite the slow start the Knicks shot 40 percent.

– In the second quarter it was the Lakers getting off to a slow start, missing eight straight shots at one point. Five early points from Quickley evened things up at 29. A few minutes later, Barrett gave them their first lead of the game with a pair of foul shots, he had just three points in the first half.

Six straight points, including Quickley picking Dennis Schroeder’s pocket to start a fast-break, pushed the Knicks’ lead to 51-43 late in the first half. The Lakers cut into the lead, with Schroeder drilling the most casual buzzer-beater you will see, sending this one into the break with New York leading 53-52.

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Quickley (13) and Isaiah Hartenstein (10) contributed a combined 23 points off the bench. Randle had seven points and seven rebounds and Brunson led all scorers with 16 points of his own.

– The teams went back-and-forth trading buckets for most of the third. Late in the quarter, Obi Toppin drilled a corner three off a nice feed from Brunson giving the Knicks a 79-78 lead.

However, the Lakers got hot down the stretch and took a three-point advantage heading into the final frame. Brunson was cooking for the Knicks with ten points in the third, to get him up to 26 for the game.

– Both teams were letting it fly early on in the fourth. The Lakers made their first eight shots of the quarter helping them push the lead to five only five minutes into the quarter.

A few minutes later, the Knicks went on a bit of a run and another Grimes circus layup cut the lead to two with four minutes to play. After the Lakers, again, pulled away a little, Brunson brought New York storming back to even things at 114 with 24 seconds left in regulation.

With three seconds remaining, Brunson stood in and took a charge from AD. After a timeout, Randle missed a potential game-winning shot sending the game to overtime tied at 114.

Los Angeles started OT on a 9-4 run, and that ultimately proved to be too much, as the Lakers held on for a 129-123 win over the Knicks.

Brunson led all scores with 37 points on 12-of-28 shooting. LeBron recorded his first triple-double of the season (28-10-11), AD had 27 points of his own, Hachimura had 19, and Westbrook had 17 off the bench.

Randle had 23 points and 12 rebounds but shot just 9-for-19 from the field. Barrett was subbed off with five minutes remaining and didn’t see the floor for the remainder of regulation or overtime.

Hartenstein played 40 minutes off the bench and had a double-double (16 points, 13 rebounds) and Quickley contributed 19 points in 38 minutes of action.

Highlights What’s next

The Knicks continue their homestand as they take on Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Garden.