On December 18, Beijing time, the NBA regular season will continue tomorrow, and the Lakers will host the challenge of the New York Knicks. The Lakers are currently in eighth place in the West with a 15-11 record, and the playoffs are under a lot of pressure. In their last game, they lost away to the bottom of the West, Spurs, and caused a big upset. The Knicks are currently in sixth place in the East with 14 wins and 11 losses, and the team also lost to the Clippers by a large margin in their last game. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season, and LeBron James will have to lead the Lakers to defend Los Angeles home glory and prevent the team's two-game losing streak at home.
The Lakers' recent form has been somewhat inconsistent, with the team up and down. In the last 5 matches, they have a record of 3 wins and 2 losses. In the last two games with the Spurs, they only won 1 win and 1 loss, playing away on the 14th, LeBron was absent, and Anthony Davis led the team alone, cutting 37 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals to help the Lakers win 122-119 away.
However, two days later, that is, on the 16th, the Lakers faced the Spurs at home, but they planted a heel at home, and in the absence of Brother Thick Mei and James led the team alone, the Lakers lost to the Spurs by as many as 14 points 115-129 at home. In this game, James performed poorly, although he got 23 points and 14 assists in two doubles and four games, but the shooting efficiency was very low, Rivers cut 22 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, played very well, Hachimura contributed 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and the performance was very eye-catching, but this game did not have Anthony Davis to sit inside, and the Lakers' three-second area was hit by the Spurs. It's almost half of the Lakers' defensive system.
Compared to the Lakers, the Knicks' recent situation is not much better, and in the last five games, the Knicks have a 2-3 record. In the most recent game, the Knicks faced the Clippers away and ended up losing by 22 points on the road, and were defeated by the Clippers' Big Four. However, this is also their second game in a back-to-back, the day before facing the Suns away, Jalen Brunson exploded, scoring 50 points and 9 assists to help the team beat the Suns away. Prevented a losing streak.
The Lakers host the Knicks, this is the first time the two teams have met this season, in terms of team statistics, the two teams are very close in points per game and rebounds per game, the Lakers average 114 points + 44.6 rebounds per game, while the Knicks average 114.5 points + 45.2 rebounds per game, slightly less Lakers, but in terms of rebounds and blocks per game, the Lakers can average 3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game than the Knicks. Therefore, the Lakers' interior advantage is still very large. This is also the key to the Lakers' victory in this game.
Today's Lakers rely heavily on James' offensive firepower and organization, and Anthony Davis on the defensive end. Of the five basic statistics, James ranked first on the team in points, assists and steals, while Anthony Davis contracted rebounds and blocks. Therefore, as long as one of the two plays abnormally in the game, it will become difficult for the Lakers to win, although role players such as Rivers and Russell occasionally play smart, but the performance is very inconsistent and cannot bring consistent help to the team. Therefore, if the Lakers want to win this game, they still have to count on the combination of James + Davis, so whether the Lakers can defend the dignity of the home court, let's wait and see!