The Los Angeles Lakers and NY Knicks are playing live on the NBA schedule on Super Bowl Sunday and the game from New York has LA down its main star in Kobe Bryant and the game will be on MSG instead of ESPN after it was pulled from national TV and the matchup starts at 2 pm ET from Madison Square Garden.
The Lakers come in after an overtime win against the Chicago Bulls and now the team plays the Knicks before a road matchup with the Bucks. The Lakers got 26 points and 12 rebounds from Jordan Hill, while Jeremy Lin was tops with five assists. The Knicks have just nine wins this season, while the Lakers have 13 and star Kobe Bryant will be out for this game and for the season after getting shoulder surgery.
Carmelo Anthony said that the Knicks would be back on national TV after getting pushed off a few times this season and that things would be getting better "soon". The Lakers are in the middle of a second straight tough season and they are ranked near the bottom of the league in points allowed per game this year. Bryant was leading the team in scoring and had been playing well for the Lakers, but now he is out for the season, but has said he plans on returning next year.
The Knicks come into the game after a loss against the Indiana Pacers and they will next play a division matchup with the Celtics after matching up with the Lakers. The Knicks have been struggling mightily this season and they come in ranked 28th in the NBA in scoring and 20th in points allowed per game. Anthony led the way with 18 points against the Pacers, while Jason Smith led the way in rebounds and Jose Calderon was tops in assists.
The Knicks have been focusing on the future and Anthony is just trying to get through the season healthy after dealing with knee pain. The team signed a couple of their young players to season long contracts to see how they continue to develop and now Phil Jackson hopes to turn things around quickly. The Knicks signed Lance Thomas and Lou Amundson and the team has not played very well at home and this could be a chance to bounce back against the Lakers. Los Angeles has lost 10 road games in the last 11 matchups and they have yet to win a game away from Los Angeles in 2015 and now they face off against the Knicks.
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