The Los Angeles Lakers were able to pick up a convincing win against the New York Knicks to earn the No.1 seed in the Las Vegas Summer League.
Since going to Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League this year, the Los Angeles Lakers have been playing some great basketball. At there home away from home, the young Lakers entered Tuesday with a 2-0 record after earning wins against the Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls.
On Tuesday, the Lakers faced a challenging task against the New York Knicks. Like the Lakers, the Knicks have a very strong roster led by rookie, Kevin Knox. The 9th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft has been very impressive in the Summer League, and he was impressive once again on Tuesday night.
In the loss, Knox totaled 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The Lakers, who were up by 25 points at one point in the third quarter saw their lead vanish when Knox got hot. Unfortunately for the Knicks, the strong third quarter wasn’t enough to get the win.
With a 3-0 record, the Lakers are now the No.1 seed in the Las Vegas Summer League, and will have a bye for the next part of the tournament.
In the win against the Knicks, the Lakers’ backcourt of Alex Caruso and Josh Hart was special. Caruso totaled five points, four rebounds, and 10 assists, while posting a +41 +/- ratio. Hart continued to dominate in Las Vegas, as he totaled 27 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
On Tuesday, the bench also contributed in the 109-92 win, as Nick King scored 15 points, Jeff Ayres scored 17 points, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 10 points. Overall, it was another very impressive game for the Lakers, and they are in great position to defend their Summer League Title as the No.1 seed.
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While the Lakers are rolling right now, we will have to monitor the health of Moritz Wagner, who rolled his ankle in the win against the Knicks and played just nine minutes. Wagner has played quite well so far in Vegas, and losing him for any amount of time in the tournament would be a blow to the Lakers. After a disappointing showing the California Classic, the Lakers have certainly found their groove in Vegas.