Deadspin | Lakers hold off Knicks for wire-to-wire win

Sports news March 8, 2026

Mar 8, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) and Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) reach for the ball in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Luke Doncic scored 35 points as the Los Angeles Lakers weathered some shaky moments in the fourth quarter, along with LeBron James sitting out, and recorded a wire-to-wire 110-97 victory over the visiting New York Knicks on Sunday.

James sat out with a bruised left elbow he sustained in Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets when he absorbed contact from Nikola Jokic. The Lakers also said the 41-year-old missed the game due to left foot arthritis.

Combined with missing Friday’s win over the Pacers, it was the first time James had been out for consecutive games since the first 14 games of this season due to sciatica in his back and leg.

Without James, Doncic scored 14 points in the third quarter when the Lakers outscored the Knicks 34-20. He shot 11-for-25 overall and made two 3-pointers during a 20-8 run over the final seven-plus minutes of the third, which turned a 68-61 lead into an 88-69 advantage entering the fourth.

After taking a big lead into the fourth, the Lakers slumped for most of the quarter until the final minutes. They missed 10 straight shots until Doncic banked in a layup for a 104-91 lead with 2:34 left and the star guard capped the scoring with another 3 with 65 seconds left.

Austin Reaves added 25 and had a pair of key defensive plays against Jalen Brunson in the final minutes. Rui Hachimura started for James again and contributed 13, while reserve Luke Kennard chipped in 12 as the Lakers shot 43.2%, including 7-for-24 in the fourth.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 25 points, including 11 in the fourth, to go along with 16 rebounds. Brunson added 24 points, six rebounds and seven assists, but shot 8 of 19 from the field and committed seven of New York’s 19 turnovers.

The Knicks shot 42.7% and were 8 of 34 from behind the arc after hitting 18 3s in their 12-point home win over the Lakers on Feb. 1.

Doncic scored 12 points in the opening quarter, which ended with the Lakers taking a 31-23 lead when Kennard sank a corner 3 with 13.9 seconds left. As Brunson rested, the Lakers opened a 45-33 lead on a 3 by Jarred Vanderbilt with 7:32 left in the half.

Following Vanderbilt’s 3, Los Angeles missed nine consecutive shots before Reaves beat the buzzer with an off-balance five-footer for a 54-49 lead at halftime. Los Angeles used a 12-2 run to build a 68-56 lead on a 3 by Reaves with 8:18 left in the third quarter and allowed the lead to shrink to seven on a basket by Hart less than a minute later before rallying again.

–Field Level Media

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If we learned anything from this week’s NBA draft, it’s that this is not a good time to be unemployed.

Remember when free agency was a pot of gold at the end of the NBA rainbow? A draft class for the ages and a salary cap well past its expiration date have conspired to change that.

The genesis of this problem can be traced to the mutual “we were the winners” response by both the players and the owners in the NBA’s last collective bargaining agreement.

The star players got what they wanted – a rapidly escalating maximum-contract figure that allowed 14 players to earn more than $50 million last season and another 31 to pocket $35 million or more.

Meanwhile, the owners were able to slow inflation in the salary cap, which hasn’t come close to matching the increase in salaries.

The result: Remember all those teams accused of tanking? Well, 29 of them ended the 2025-26 season over the cap, and the one that didn’t – the Nets – barely snuck under it.

Owners don’t like being north of the NBA’s assigned budget because it comes at an additional cost. The loophole-less taxes married to the dreaded second apron are even more painful.

The outlook for the upcoming season is more of the same – higher prices for gas, but no additional disposable income with which to afford an electric car.

Suffice it to say, player agents are going to earn their money this summer. Or probably more likely, they’re going to get fired by free agents who were promised riches but will have to crawl back to their 2026 employer, begging that they re-sign a guy they were hoping to see walk so the team could pocket the savings.

Salary raises? More like pay cuts.

Now let’s mix in the draft results.

You start with four bad teams – the Wizards, Jazz, Grizzlies and Bulls – who might otherwise throw big bucks at overpriced former stars, which desperate franchises are renowned for doing.

Instead, they were able to latch onto four potential superstar players, which helps point them to the future rather than a win-now free agent.

That said, it’s hard to find any team that wasn’t happy with its draft result, whether it was landing a real nice prospect at pretty much any point of the first round, or trading out of the guaranteed contract for some nice second-round sleepers without taking a salary-cap hit.

So now reality sets in: Happy owners don’t go Christmas shopping in July.

If anybody stands to benefit from the penny-pinching off-season, it’s a college graduate with aspirations of being an NBA general manager someday. It’s going to be that kind of summer, where the smartest teams find a way to get better despite seemingly having no money to do so.

Script a gameplan and earn yourself a job. You know, like the guy who just earned the right to trade Giannis — Jon Horst.

It no doubt would start with the three most important letters of the NBA alphabet these days: TPE.

It’s why the Nets and Grizzlies were able to get big-name players for peanuts. Only these peanuts are macadamias — blank checks for the total amount of the Julius Randle and Isaiah Stewart contracts, available to use on free agency for Timberwolves and Pistons teams that would ordinarily not have any money to spend.

Sign-and-trades figure to be big as well. At this point, it appears like the only way LeBron James can get out of Los Angeles, presuming he wants a serious shot at another title.

But now that the Spurs have bulked up with Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr., do they really need to sacrifice some of their precious young talent to get Victor Wembanyama a 40-something bodyguard?

Do the Warriors, having added a plug-and-play power forward in Yaxel Lendeborg, still have an interest in LeBron, short of the Lakers taking Kristaps Porzingis in a sign-and-trade?

Pity Porzingis, Jalen Duren, James Harden and Zach LaVine, let alone Peyton Watson, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Walker Kessler.

Take down those “For Sale” signs. They’re likely staying home.

Or can you say mid-level exception?

#NBA #Free #Agency #Tougher #Draft #Deadspin.com">

NBA Free Agency Just Got Much Tougher After the Draft | Deadspin.com If we learned anything from this week’s NBA draft, it’s that this is not a good time to be unemployed.Remember when free agency was a pot of gold at the end of the NBA rainbow? A draft class for the ages and a salary cap well past its expiration date have conspired to change that.The genesis of this problem can be traced to the mutual “we were the winners” response by both the players and the owners in the NBA’s last collective bargaining agreement.The star players got what they wanted – a rapidly escalating maximum-contract figure that allowed 14 players to earn more than million last season and another 31 to pocket million or more.Meanwhile, the owners were able to slow inflation in the salary cap, which hasn’t come close to matching the increase in salaries.The result: Remember all those teams accused of tanking? Well, 29 of them ended the 2025-26 season over the cap, and the one that didn’t – the Nets – barely snuck under it.Owners don’t like being north of the NBA’s assigned budget because it comes at an additional cost. The loophole-less taxes married to the dreaded second apron are even more painful.The outlook for the upcoming season is more of the same – higher prices for gas, but no additional disposable income with which to afford an electric car.Suffice it to say, player agents are going to earn their money this summer. Or probably more likely, they’re going to get fired by free agents who were promised riches but will have to crawl back to their 2026 employer, begging that they re-sign a guy they were hoping to see walk so the team could pocket the savings.Salary raises? More like pay cuts.Now let’s mix in the draft results.You start with four bad teams – the Wizards, Jazz, Grizzlies and Bulls – who might otherwise throw big bucks at overpriced former stars, which desperate franchises are renowned for doing.Instead, they were able to latch onto four potential superstar players, which helps point them to the future rather than a win-now free agent.That said, it’s hard to find any team that wasn’t happy with its draft result, whether it was landing a real nice prospect at pretty much any point of the first round, or trading out of the guaranteed contract for some nice second-round sleepers without taking a salary-cap hit.So now reality sets in: Happy owners don’t go Christmas shopping in July.If anybody stands to benefit from the penny-pinching off-season, it’s a college graduate with aspirations of being an NBA general manager someday. It’s going to be that kind of summer, where the smartest teams find a way to get better despite seemingly having no money to do so.Script a gameplan and earn yourself a job. You know, like the guy who just earned the right to trade Giannis — Jon Horst.It no doubt would start with the three most important letters of the NBA alphabet these days: TPE.It’s why the Nets and Grizzlies were able to get big-name players for peanuts. Only these peanuts are macadamias — blank checks for the total amount of the Julius Randle and Isaiah Stewart contracts, available to use on free agency for Timberwolves and Pistons teams that would ordinarily not have any money to spend.Sign-and-trades figure to be big as well. At this point, it appears like the only way LeBron James can get out of Los Angeles, presuming he wants a serious shot at another title.But now that the Spurs have bulked up with Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr., do they really need to sacrifice some of their precious young talent to get Victor Wembanyama a 40-something bodyguard?Do the Warriors, having added a plug-and-play power forward in Yaxel Lendeborg, still have an interest in LeBron, short of the Lakers taking Kristaps Porzingis in a sign-and-trade?Pity Porzingis, Jalen Duren, James Harden and Zach LaVine, let alone Peyton Watson, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Walker Kessler.Take down those “For Sale” signs. They’re likely staying home.Or can you say mid-level exception? #NBA #Free #Agency #Tougher #Draft #Deadspin.com

mwasimuddin125 0

If we learned anything from this week’s NBA draft, it’s that this is not a good time to be unemployed.
Remember when free agency was a pot of gold at the end of the NBA rainbow? A draft class for the ages and a salary cap well past its expiration date have conspired to change that.
The genesis of this problem can be traced to the mutual “we were the winners” response by both the players and the owners in the NBA’s last collective bargaining agreement.
The star players got what they wanted – a rapidly escalating maximum-contract figure that allowed 14 players to earn more than $50 million last season and another 31 to pocket $35 million or more.
Meanwhile, the owners were able to slow inflation in the salary cap, which hasn’t come close to matching the increase in salaries.
The result: Remember all those teams accused of tanking? Well, 29 of them ended the 2025-26 season over the cap, and the one that didn’t – the Nets – barely snuck under it.
Owners don’t like being north of the NBA’s assigned budget because it comes at an additional cost. The loophole-less taxes married to the dreaded second apron are even more painful.
The outlook for the upcoming season is more of the same – higher prices for gas, but no additional disposable income with which to afford an electric car.
Suffice it to say, player agents are going to earn their money this summer. Or probably more likely, they’re going to get fired by free agents who were promised riches but will have to crawl back to their 2026 employer, begging that they re-sign a guy they were hoping to see walk so the team could pocket the savings.