NBA: Lakers humiliate Knicks, drop franchise-best 51 points in third quarter

LOS ANGELES -- Buoyed by a franchise-best 51-point outburst in the third quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers routed the New York Knicks 127-96 Tuesday night (Wednesday, PHL time) at Staples Center.

FINAL: Lakers 127, Knicks 96. The Lakers shoot 57.8% overall & 64.3% on 3's (18/28). #GoLakers pic.twitter.com/wrIkKjBBhv

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 26, 2014

Guard Xavier Henry scored 22 points to lead the Lakers past the Knicks for the sixth consecutive time at Staples. They also hurt the Knicks' playoff hopes, as New York (29-42) fell three games behind the idle Atlanta Hawks for the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference.

Henry, who opted to forgo season-ending surgery on his left wrist, which has a torn ligament, hit eight of 11 attempts from the floor. Lakers forward Nick Young added 20 points, while forward Kent Bazemore finished with 18 points.

Forward Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 29 points and nine rebounds.

The Los Angeles bench outscored New York's 82-21.

The Lakers (24-46) prevailed despite playing without center Pau Gasol, who missed the game due to vertigo. Gasol came down with the illness during the first half of Sunday's win over the Orlando Magic.

After trailing 22-14 after one quarter, Los Angeles turned its fortunes around in a big way the rest of the way.

The Lakers went on a 27-6 run to take a 41-28 advantage, their biggest lead of the first half, after a layup by Bazemore with 4:44 remaining in the second quarter.

The Lakers made a sizzling 75 percent (15 of 20) of their shots in the second quarter. They led 50-42 at intermission before pounding the Knicks into submission in the third quarter.

The 51 points in the third -- the most ever allowed by the Knicks in a quarter -- helped balloon the Lakers' lead to 101-73 at the end of the quarter. The Lakers shot 73.1 percent (19 of 26) in the third, compared to 57.1 percent (12 of 21) for New York, which scored 31 points in the period.

The Lakers connected on 18 of 28 (64.3 percent) from behind the arc for the game. They were one 3-pointer shy of their club record. New York went 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) on treys.

Former Lakers coach and new Knicks president Phil Jackson watched the game from a suite. Metta World Peace, who played with both clubs, also was in attendance. - Reuters


The scores:
LAKERS 127 - Henry 22, Young 20, Bazemore 18, Meeks 14, Kaman 13, Hill 9, Kelly 9, Sacre 8, Marshall 7, Brooks 5, Johnson 2

KNICKS 96 - Anthony 29, Hardaway 17, Stoudemire 16, Chandler 12, Smith 12, Felton 6, Aldrich 2, Brown 2, Prigioni 0, Shumpert 0, Tyler 0, Murry 0

Los Angeles 14-50-101-127
New York      22-42-74-96