LOS ANGELES — At least on this night, Julius Randle got the better of LeBron James.
Randle won the battle of power forwards against the ageless wonder Monday, dropping a hard-fought 27 points with 14 rebounds as the Knicks escaped Crypto.com Arena with a 114-109 victory over the Lakers.
James, the oldest active player in the NBA, countered with 25 in 39 minutes, missing 13 of his 23 attempts as LA’s comeback attempt fell short in front of a bevy of former players and celebrities, most notably Stephon Marbury and Ron Artest.
Fittingly, New York’s victory was sealed when James bricked a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left, leading to Randle’s breakaway jam on the other end.
The victory finished a successful road trip for the Knicks (15-11), who went 2-2 during a mini tour of the Western Conference.
They avenged their blowout defeat two nights earlier in the same arena, although against the Clippers.
Jalen Brunson added 29 points in 37 minutes for the Knicks, who took control with a 15-2 run to end the third quarter.
The Lakers cut their deficit to four multiple times in the final four minutes, but couldn’t stop Randle or Brunson on key possessions.
The Lakers (15-12) were at full strength after some questions about the availability of their best players. James, Anthony Davis (29 points, 14 rebounds) and D’Angelo Russell (nine points) were all on the injury report and all started for LA.
James fell to 41-17 lifetime against the Knicks.
Randle, who played 43 minutes, has always taken extra motivation and oomph into his matchups against the Lakers, the team that drafted him and dumped him four years later in free agency.
He entered the evening averaging over 25 points in 12 games against the Lakers.
Then he came out firing on Monday night, scoring 10 points in the opening quarter while relentlessly attacking the rim.
Coincidentally, part of the reason the Lakers didn’t re-sign Randle in 2018 was they needed the cap space to acquire James.
That worked out for LA.
Just not on Monday night.
Without Mitchell Robinson, whose surgically repaired ankle won’t be re-evaluated for another seven to nine weeks, Tom Thibodeau’s center rotation remains a mess.
Jericho Sims started again Monday but turned his ankle on the opening tip.
He continued to play, committed two quick fouls, and was pulled for good with a sprained ankle after just three minutes.
It was the second straight game Sims’ first shift lasted less than four minutes, and now his availability moving forward is in question.
With Isaiah Hartenstein (17 rebounds in 39 minutes) playing well as the backup, Tom Thibodeau still had to turn to Taj Gibson for six minutes.
It was the first meaningful time of the season for Gibson, who was out of the league just last week.
The Knicks were outscored by eight points with the 38-year-old on the court.
Behind Randle’s aggressiveness, the Knicks led by as many as 12 in the second quarter.
But the bench couldn’t hold the advantage and the Lakers held a 58-57 edge at the break, courtesy of a 19-6 Lakers run to end the half.
Then the Knicks responded by dominating the end of the third quarter.
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