LOS ANGELES — Talen Horton-Tucker made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 21.1 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Los Angeles Lakers improved their hopes of avoiding the play-in tournament and prevented the New York Knicks from clinching a postseason berth with a 101-99 victory Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
The Knicks trailed 98-93 with 1:56 remaining, but scored six straight points to grab the lead, including Julius Randle’s 3-pointer with 1:11 left. In a game that saw 23 lead changes, Horton-Tucker came up with the big shot when the Lakers needed it most. He scored seven of his 13 points in overtime.<\/p>\n
Kyle Kuzma, who missed Sunday’s game due to lower back tightness, led the Lakers with 23 points and Anthony Davis scored 20.<\/p>\n
Talen Horton-Tucker knocks down the clutch late 3 to give the Lakers the win over the Knicks! \ud83d\udc4c<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfa5: @NBApic.twitter.com\/X9Ve24hcXr<\/p>\n
Los Angeles (39-30) is one game behind Portland and Dallas for the sixth seed in the Western Conference with three games remaining in the regular season.<\/p>\n
Randle had 31 points and Derrick Rose 27 for the Knicks, who were hoping to clinch their first postseason berth since 2013 with a victory. New York, Atlanta and Miami are all tied at 38-31, but only the Heat have secured their spot in the top six of the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n
The Knicks had a 76-73 advantage going into the fourth quarter and scored nine of the first 11 points in the period to go up 85-75 with 7:39 remaining. The Lakers trailed by seven with five minutes left before going on a 9-2 run as Andre Drummond’s layup off Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s assist evened it at 89 with 1:56 to go.<\/p>\n
Rose’s jumper with 1:37 remaining put the Knicks up by two, but they were unable to come away with points on their final three possessions. Caldwell-Pope missed a 3-pointer from the corner but Wesley Matthews gathered in the rebound and laid it in to tie it at 91 with 3.1 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Randle missed a driving floater in the lane to send it to overtime.<\/p>\n
“Every game for us is crucial. Guys came out and left it all on the floor.”@AntDavis23 joined the TNT Tuesday crew after the @Lakers’ big win. pic.twitter.com\/cysMvrZS1l<\/p>\n
The Knicks had a 42-40 advantage midway through the second quarter before the Lakers ran off nine straight points — including six by Kuzma — to go up 49-42 with 3:42 remaining. That was the largest lead by any team the first three quarters.<\/p>\n