Invisible two days earlier in Chicago (3 points at 1/7) and generally inside since his arrival in New York (12.1 points on average), Evan Fournier managed a very solid performance on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. The French full-back has indeed crossed the 20-point mark for the second time this season (he had scored 32 in his very first appearance in New York), passing 26 units to the Los Angeles Lakers at 8/14 on shots, including an excellent 6/9 long distance.
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Clever from the start, Fournier scored nearly half of his points in the first twelve minutes and put his own on the right track (36-15) before handing over to Julius Randle (20 points, 16 rebounds) , who, having been hampered by faults, had to sit on the bench for a good part of the last quarter. The young leader Immanuel Quickley (22) then took responsibility and scored 12 of his 14 points, all on long-distance shots that ended up keeping the Lakers at bay. “We can be really very good, we just need to trust each other”, said Fournier after the meeting.
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Californians, forced to do without LeBron James, suspended following the blow to the interior of Detroit Isaiah Stewart, also almost had to do without Anthony Davis, sick. He finally played, but he was clearly not at 100% (20 points at 7/17). If the Lakers have managed to come back two times tied at the return of the locker room, it is thanks to Russell Westbrook (31 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists), too lonely, however, to hope to face wavering the premises. Frank Vogel’s men have now lost four of their last five games and remain out of the top 8 in the West.
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