OG Anunoby collected 29 points for one of his better offensive games of the season and Jalen Brunson added 25, but forced to operate without Karl-Anthony Towns (personal reasons), the Knicks faltered and left for a five-game West Coast trip on a sour note.

The Knicks’ first game without Jalen Brunson went as expected: hard-fought until the end, where New York missed its captain and All-Star clutch performer.

For those still struggling to come to grips with some front office decisions of recent years, a reunion in Los Angeles on Thursday night may have been tough to swallow as Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks in an OT thriller, 113-109.