Knicks at Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are officially out of the playoff mix — not that there was any suspense — as they host another highly disappointing team in the New York Knicks on Thursday. Los Angeles was eliminated from the Western Conference race Tuesday and will miss the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for only the second time, the other being the 1974-75 and 1975-76 campaigns. The Knicks still are mathematically alive in the Eastern Conference despite having the worst record in the NBA.
New York has lost five consecutive games, including back-to-back losses to the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz to begin a five-game road trip. The Knicks have been playing shorthanded, and coach Derek Fisher told reporters he is hopeful shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (back) will return after a two-game absence. The Lakers defeated the Detroit Pistons 93-85 on Tuesday to halt a five-game losing streak and win for just the fifth time in 26 games.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE KNICKS (12-51): It has been a long season for Fisher in his first season as a coach and he couldn’t help but get caught up about the fact that he will be in Los Angeles as a visiting coach. After all, the Lakers are the organization in which he won five titles as a player. “Right now at this moment I think about how thankful and blessed and fortunate I feel to have lived the life I am living,” Fisher told reporters. “To have played this game for as long as I have, to play in L.A. for as long as I did, now to be coming back there as a coach in L.A., I am thankful.”
ABOUT THE LAKERS (17-46): Coach Byron Scott isn’t getting caught up in his club being eliminated or with the fact it is headed for the worst record in franchise history — replacing last season’s team — since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles from Minnesota in 1960. “I’m just thinking about the process of this team continuing to get better and just sticking with what we talked about on both ends of the floor,” Scott told reporters. “From Day One to now, we’ve gotten better on the defensive end. That’s what I’ve been preaching all season long, so that makes me happy.” The victory over the Pistons came in Scott’s 1,000th game as an NBA coach.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. New York recorded a 92-80 home win over the Lakers on Feb. 1 but has lost seven straight games versus Los Angeles at Staples Center.
2. Los Angeles SF Wesley Johnson (calf) is expected to play and has scored in double digits in five straight games.
3. Knicks G Alexey Shved is averaging 18.3 points over the past three games.