Knicks completely destroyed by Lakers, who lose Anthony Davis

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers won in a 117-87 rout, but the Knicks delivered the purple and gold a physical pounding.

Lakers superstar Anthony Davis suffered a lower back injury after he contested a Julius Randle layup with 2:45 left in the third quarter and fell violently on his back. Davis stayed down for several minutes while teammates huddled around the fallen big man.

X-Rays were negative and the Lakers termed the injury “a sacral contusion.” He is expected to have an MRI exam and miss at least the next two games.

When he got to his feet, Davis gingerly hobbled off the court on his own power to the locker room area, where a gurney was waiting. Even if the injury does not keep him out long, he should have one giant bruise. The violence was witnessed by longtime Lakers’ superfan Jack Nicholson, who rarely shows up anymore.

Davis, who finished with just five points, reportedly recently turned down the security of the Lakers’ $145 million contract extension so he can make $30 million more in free agency on July 1.

Randle is a former lottery pick by the Lakers and the franchise decided not to re-sign him in 2018 to keep cap flexibility for 2019 that helped net Davis.

Davis’ injury wasn’t the lone calamity that afflicted the gold-clad Lakers, who were led by LeBron James’ 31 points, five rebounds and five assists. James, with the Lakers up 23 with six minutes left, was kept in the game and fired up three straight 3-pointers, making two of them to pad his final ledger.

Knicks big man Bobby Portis got a well-deserved ejection in the second quarter for a Flagrant Foul 2 as he took a wild swing at the head of a driving Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was driving for an easy layup.

If Portis was going for the ball, he missed by a mile, and James was furious, jabbering at Portis. Rajon Rondo did as well.

Portis hit the showers and could be barred from the Knicks’ next game against Utah on Wednesday as the NBA reviews all Flagrant 2’s.

Pope did not take his free throws and went to the locker room after spending time on the floor, wincing and touching his temples. He was examined for a concussion, but later cleared.

James was certifiably stoked. Despite being “under the weather” and missing the morning shootaround, he was a machine at night, firing sharp-angled passes, draining 3’s and a couple of times, rambling to the hole like a freight train.

But now James must wonder how long Davis may have to miss with this injury for the Lakers (30-7), who are now 21-0 against sub-.500 teams.

The Knicks fell to 10-27 — 6-9 under interim coach Mike Miller. They were led by RJ Barrett (19 points) and Randle (15 points).

The Lakers started the game with an easy alley-oop connection — Danny Green to Javale McGee. But the Knicks hung tough and were down just 26-21 after one quarter.

It was just a matter of time before the Lakers’ fast-paced game wore them out. The Lakers scored 21 fast-break points in the half.

The Knicks missed forward Marcus Morris, out with a neck injury. Bullock, rather than Kevin Knox, started in his place and was just 1-of-5 from the 3-point line in the half, when the club shot just 35.8 percent overall. Reggie Bullock finished 3-of-9 for seven points. Knox continued to disintegrate, going 1-for-7 from the field.

Before the Davis fall, it got a chippy in the third quarter when Bullock dragged down McGee, who had a layup attempt underneath. Bullock was charged with a Flagrant 1 after an angry McGee asked for a video review.

For more on the Knicks, listen to the latest episode of the “Big Apple Buckets” podcast:

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