Sports
Despite All-Stars’ efforts, Lakers fade vs. Knicks on anniversary of Luka Doncic deal
NEW YORK — Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the Lakers’ acquisition of Luka Doncic.
Coach JJ Redick acknowledged he felt “stressed” knowing about the trade before the Lakers played the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden that night in 2025.
While his stress may have faded, Redick couldn’t have liked what he saw from the Lakers on the same floor one year later.
Despite a strong effort from Doncic, the Lakers struggled with their shooting and lost 112-100 to the Knicks on Sunday night.
After Landry Shamet made his second straight three-pointer to give the Knicks a 112-99 lead with 59.3 seconds left, Redick pulled his starters. The Lakers led 56-52 at halftime but were outscored 38-26 in the third quarter after New York went on a 15-5 run to take a 90-82 lead into the fourth quarter.
Doncic finished with 30 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Lakers’ 45% shooting from the field and 29% shooting from three-point range.
With the Lakers in sixth place in the uber-competitive Western Conference at 29-19, Doncic was asked where he thought they stood in their pursuit of an NBA championship.
“We’re in a good spot,” Doncic said. “Obviously, got some work to do. But I think today we obviously missed a lot of good looks, but I think we have a great group.”
LeBron James had 22 points, six assists and five rebounds, but he fell to 23-9 in regular-season games at Madison Square Garden, and the Lakers slipped to 4-3 on their season-high eight-game trip, which ends Tuesday in Brooklyn.
With the Lakers 5-5 in their last 10, James also reflected on where the team stands.
“I like this group, but we got to continue to get better,” James said. “And that’s good. We should want to get better. … We want to continue to get better and better. It’s a tough league.
“Like I said, it’s been tough all season as far as dealing with injuries. … Unfortunately our All-Star two-guard [Austin Reaves, calf injury] has been out for a minute and that’s a big piece of our team. So, it’s kind of hard to see what we can really, truly be.”
Deandre Ayton had 13 points and five rebounds, and Marcus Smart had seven points and three assists.
OG Anunoby had 25 points, eight rebounds and three assists to lead the Knicks (31-18), who have won six straight. Shamet scored 23 points off the bench, and Josh Hart had 20 points and four rebounds. Jalen Brunson finished with 12 points and a season-high 13 assists.
Before the game, James was named an All-Star for a record 22nd time.
LeBron James had 22 points, six assists and five rebounds against Josh Hart and the Knicks.
(John Munson / Associated Press)
“Obviously, super humbling,” James said. “Mad respect to the coaches and them seeing how I’m still playing at this latter stage of my career and to be able to be an All-Star. That means a lot to my family, my people that’ve been following my career, my LeBron faithful that’s been following my journey.
“It’s always rewarding just from a humble standpoint to be able to be rewarded for what you put your work into. So, it’s pretty cool.”
Sports
Hornets-Pistons game turns chaotic with massive brawl leading to 4 ejections
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A massive brawl broke out between the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons on Monday night, leading to four ejections in a wild third-quarter scene.
Hornets players Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges, as well as Pistons’ Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, were all ejected from the game.
The incident began when Duren was backing down Diabate in the paint, and the latter fouled the former with around seven minutes to play in the third quarter. But the two immediately got in each other’s face, with Diabate pressing his head against Duren, which set everything off.
Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges of the Charlotte Hornets fight Jalen Duren #0 of the Detroit Pistons during the second half of a basketball game at Spectrum Center on Feb. 9, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (David Jensen/Getty Images)
Duren shoved Diabate’s face, and despite people on both sides trying to alleviate the tension, the usually mild-mannered Diabate kept trying to find Duren again.
Pistons veteran Tobias Harris was holding back Diabate, when the latter threw a punch at Duren, escalating the whole situation. As Duren walked away, Bridges got involved, throwing his own left-handed punch at Duren. The Pistons forward retaliated with his own punch.
2026 NBA DRAFT NO. 1 PICK ODDS: DARRYN PETERSON BECOMES HEAVIER FAVORITE
Then, with many on the court at this point, Stewart came rushing off the Pistons’ bench to confront Bridges, throwing a punch as their altercation became the focal point of the madness on the hardwood.
The tense scene finally dissipated, but the ejections didn’t stop after that. In the fourth quarter, Hornets coach Charles Lee was tossed from the game and needed to be held back after screaming at officials following a no-call when his player, Grant Williams, collided with Pistons’ Paul Reed.
The Pistons ended up winning the game, 110-104, to add to their Eastern Conference-best 39-13 record. The Hornets fell to 25-29, which sits them 10th in the conference.
Moussa Diabate of the Charlotte Hornets fights Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons during the second half of a basketball game at Spectrum Center on Feb. 9, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (David Jensen/Getty Images)
Ejections in the NBA usually lead to discipline, so it will be interesting to see what the league office determines is proper punishment for this heated moment on Monday night.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sports
Without Luka Doncic, Lakers come up short against the Thunder
In the eyes of Lakers coach JJ Redick, every team his group faces is a test. Still, many wondered if the Lakers’ litmus test would come from facing the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Even with All-Star and league most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out with a strained abdominal, the Thunder are still a problem for most of the league. And the Lakers had to play OKC with their own MVP candidate, Luka Doncic, sitting out for the second straight game with a left hamstring strain.
In the end, it came down to the Lakers not being able to hold off the champion Thunder in the decisive fourth quarter of a 119-110 loss at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers (32-19) had six players score in double figures, but the Thunder had seven.
The Lakers shot 50% from the field, but the Thunder shot 48.3% from the field and 42.4% from three-point range.
“I think when you play the best teams, and Oklahoma City is clearly, you know they’re the best team, you have to have a really high level of effort, and you have to have a really high level of execution,” Redick said.
LeBron James had 22 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, Marcus Smart had 19 points, Austin Reaves 16 off the bench, Jake LaRavia 14 and Rui Hachimura and Jaxon Hayes both had 12 points.
“You want me to compare us to them?” James responded to a question about the gap between Lakers and Thunder. “That’s a championship team right there, we’re not. We can’t sustain energy and effort for 48 minutes and they can. That’s why they won a championship.”
Thunder guard Kenrich Williams is double teamed by Luke Kennard and Jarred Vanderbilt in the first half.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Reaves gave the Lakers a 99-98 lead on a drive to the basket in the fourth quarter.
But the Thunder just kept coming back, taking a 109-101 lead by outscoring the Lakers 11-2.
The Lakers, too, kept fighting back, getting to within 113-110 on a Hachimura basket.
But Jalen Williams, who had 23 points in his return to the lineup, kept scoring for the Thunder, making a field goal, two free throws with 35.9 seconds left and two more with 20.9 seconds left that sealed the game.
“You’re playing against the best team in the NBA, and they’ve got more depth there, as much depth as anybody,” Redick said. “They got just a bunch of guys that can hurt you.”
Reaves provided the fans with a big-time highlight, driving down the lane and throwing down a two-handed dunk on Jaylin Williams and Aaron Wiggins to end the first quarter.
But Reaves grew frustrated in the third quarter when a foul wasn’t called on one of his drives. He argued too much and was given a technical foul by referee Eric Dalen with two minutes and 13 seconds left in the third.
After the game, after Reaves had gone six-for-14 from the field but just one-for-five from three-point line, he lamented getting the tech.
“I think I just got frustrated when I didn’t get the foul call,” Reaves said. “Got the tech, let that kind of get to me a little bit. But yeah, it was just thought it was obvious. I told Eric. He was the closest ref. If it was anybody else, I’d have said the same thing to em. I just didn’t know how all three of them could miss that. So, I was just a little frustrated after that and couldn’t get back in the flow.”
The Lakers had 20 turnovers the last time they played at Oklahoma City in a game L.A. got down by as much as 37 points before losing by 29.
So, one point of emphasis for the Lakers was taking care of the basketball.
They had 10 turnovers in the first half but just five in the second half.
The Lakers did not turn the ball over in the fourth quarter, but they shot just 38.1% from the field in the final 12 minutes, finding it difficult to score against the Thunder’s tough defense.
“Yeah, they play the game the right way,” Reaves said. “I would say 95% of the time they then make the right play, make the right read, like you said, and put stress on your defense rotations. I thought we did a pretty good job. They made a couple tough shots. That’s why they’re probably the best team in the league.”
Sports
Lindsey Vonn shares health update after Olympic crash
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
United States skier Lindsey Vonn provided a lengthy update after her crash during the alpine ski women’s downhill at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics resulted in a leg fracture on on Sunday.
Vonn, 41, was already skiing with a torn ACL, but she needed to be airlifted off the mountain in a scary scene. She posted on her Instagram on Monday, saying her “Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would.”
“It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy (tale), it was just life,” her detailed caption read. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.”
This is a developing story. More to come.
-
Indiana1 week ago13-year-old rider dies following incident at northwest Indiana BMX park
-
Massachusetts1 week agoTV star fisherman, crew all presumed dead after boat sinks off Massachusetts coast
-
Tennessee1 week agoUPDATE: Ohio woman charged in shooting death of West TN deputy
-
Politics5 days agoWhite House says murder rate plummeted to lowest level since 1900 under Trump administration
-
Indiana1 week ago13-year-old boy dies in BMX accident, officials, Steel Wheels BMX says
-
Politics7 days agoTrump unveils new rendering of sprawling White House ballroom project
-
Alabama3 days agoGeneva’s Kiera Howell, 16, auditions for ‘American Idol’ season 24
-
San Francisco, CA6 days agoExclusive | Super Bowl 2026: Guide to the hottest events, concerts and parties happening in San Francisco