All my life, LeBron James flew into Manhattan to harass my beloved Knicks. In his final game at MSG, LeBron James and the Lakers lost, held to only 44 points in the second half.
Luka Doncic got his in, 30 points, 15 rebounds, 8 assists, the usual, but OG Anunoby’s 25 points, Josh Hart scoring 20 and Landry Shamet coming off the bench going bucket-for-bucket with Doncic, scoring 23, gave the Knicks their 6th consecutive victory.
Here are my 4 biggest takeaways from the Knicks big win.
1. That player-only meeting worked
The last time the Knicks played a big nationally televised game, they were curb-stomped by a local Dallas JV team 97-114, the Mavericks panced the Knicks in front of all the hoes for their 11th loss in 13 games.
The next day, the team held a play-only meeting to discover why their season was crumbling in their palms.
They’ve now won 6 straight.
One of the most productive work meetings in the history of work meetings.
I just wanna talk about my guy OG real quick, pardon me.
All season, a superstar has attempted to leap from OG’s body, doing his best to suppress it, Anunoby’s finally embraced the beast within, recognizing he’s the strongest guy on the court, capable of doing whatever he wants.
All-defense, no question. 3 steals tonight, 6 steals in New York’s 119-92 win over Toronto two games ago, OG just decides when a team won’t be scoring, or even getting shot attempt off, whenever he wants.
Here’s what OG did against the Lakers:
- 25 points
- 9-for-15 from the field
- 4 threes
- 8 rebounds
- 3 assists
- 3 steals
OG carrying a heavier All-Star case than Karl-Anthony Towns.
2. Knicks need one more guy
Shout out Mohamed Diawara. Not an easy transition for a 20-year-old from Paris to play in the United States, on a team looking to win a championship, now, today, right fucking now.
But with Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele becoming ungovernable, and the Knicks without time to teach Diawara how to ride a bike, a hole in the rotation exists.
I wrote about some under-the-radar players the Knicks should target, so peep that, but yea, unless Thibs minutes are back, New York is short one professional ball player.
3. Jalen Brunson court vision
Brunson recorded a season-high 13 assists. Going 4-for-15 with 12 points, a humiliating night for most superstars but Jalen trusted his teammates to clean up his mess.
Jalen Brunson’s season high in assists helped the Knicks get the win!
12 PTS
13 AST
7 REB pic.twitter.com/9TbJAssXM5— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) February 2, 2026
Sometimes, Brunson plays like a guy desperate to place his name in the MVP hat, forcing possessions, head down, ignoring the 4 other guys on the floor, determined to prove something to somebody.
But when unselfish, willing to move the ball up the court quickly, using his dribble penetration to unlock open threes for the boys, Brunson, despite being the teeniest, tiniest in the collesium, sees the passing lanes around the monsters closing in on him.
Doubling Brunson at halfcourt no longer turns the Knicks offense off.
(Also the Lakers defense sucks. That can be a takeaway too.)
4. LeBron James should retire
It’s cool LeBron gets to travel the country with his son, who gets free courtside tickets to watch his father play but as the Lakers drop in the standings, the old man cannot enjoy basketball enough to keep doing this.
LeBron is a certified yapper. My guy cannot wait to podcast without consequence, wine spilling on his $8,000 white tee.
Austin Reaves’s return does not launch the Lakers to the top of the West; the Lakers won’t magically be better next season.
So what’s the plan if the Lakers don’t want to bring him back and vice versa?
Become an Ohio minimum wage worker for some heavy-handed retirement tour?
The Lakers are currently good enough to make the playoffs and from there, you pray Luka Doncic goes into the Avatar state and maybe you end up a Western Conference Finals.
But LeBron cannot come back to play with Jake LaRavia and Gabe fucking Vincent. He has sciatica.
It’s joever.
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