Los Angeles Lakers vs New York Knicks Prediction, 2/1/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Los Angeles Lakers vs New York Knicks

Date: Sunday, February 1, 2026

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: NBC

The Los Angeles Lakers (28-18) are en route to Madison Square Garden on Sunday where they will meet the New York Knicks (29-18).

The Lakers faced the Cavaliers and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 129-99 in their last contest. Los Angeles walked away from the game having earned a 48.1% FG percentage (39 out of 81) and converted 9 of their 32 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Lakers buried 12 of 18 tries for a rate of 66.7%. With respect to grabbing rebounds, they collected 36 with 8 of them being offensive. They also recorded 21 dimes in the matchup while forcing 10 turnovers and getting 7 steals. Pertaining to defense, Los Angeles let their opponent shoot 52.6% from the floor on 51 out of 97 shooting. Cleveland totaled 32 dimes and had 12 steals for the game. In addition, Cleveland snagged 46 rebounds (14 offensive, 32 defensive) and got 3 blocked shots. Cleveland ended up going 76.9% from the charity stripe by knocking down 10 of 13 tries. They made 17 out of their 44 shots from 3-point land. In relation to fouls, the Lakers finished with 16 while the Cavaliers finished the game with 15 fouls.

Luka Doncic is one guy who was a contributor for the contest. Doncic went 60.0% from the field and also dished out 6 assists. He saw the court for 30 mins played and snagged 5 rebounds. He scored 29 points on 12 out of 20 shooting.

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Los Angeles will play this contest with a record of 28-18 this season. They have an average of 115.9 points per contest (17th in the league) on 49.5% from the floor. The Lakers are shooting 35.1% on 3-point shots (549 of 1,564) and 77.3% from the charity stripe. As a team, Los Angeles is collecting 41.3 boards per game and has 1,144 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 28th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 14.9 times per game and as a squad they are committing 19.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Lakers have forced 14.5 turnovers per game while drawing 21.6 fouls. They relinquish 37.1% on 3-pointers while they are 20th in the league in points per game allowed (116.5). The Lakers defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 48.6% (1,962 of 4,034) and they surrender 40.7 boards per contest as a team. They are 15th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,266 relinquished for the season.

The last time they took the court, the Knicks walked away with a victory by a final of 119-92 when they played the Raptors. In relation to rebounding, New York permitted Toronto to snag 43 overall (12 offensive). They finished shooting 26.9% from distance by connecting on 7 out of 26 and ended up going 25 of 29 from the free throw line (86.2%). The Knicks allowed the Raptors to bury 30 of their 79 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 38.0% in this game. When this game wrapped up, the Knicks finished 45 for 90 from the field which had them at 50.0%. In relation to 3-pointers, New York made 14 of their 38 attempts (36.8%). They were able to knock down 15 of them for a percentage of 83.3%. The Raptors were called for 19 fouls in this matchup which took the Knicks to the charity stripe for 18 shots. They also gave up possession of the ball 18 times, while recording 12 steals in this contest. The Knicks recorded 35 defensive boards and 13 offensive rebounds totaling 48 in the matchup.

Mikal Bridges pitched in for the Knicks for the matchup. Bridges racked up 30 points in his 36 minutes on the court and tallied 4 assists for this game. He converted 12 of 15 in the game for a field goal rate of 80.0%, and accounted for 1 rebound.

New York has a win-loss mark of 29-18 so far this year. In terms of offensive execution, the Knicks are hitting on 47.0% from the field, which is 16th in the league. New York has scored 5,523 pts on the season (117.5 per contest) and they collect 46.3 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 26.7 times per game (11th in the league) and they turn it over 13.9 times per game. The Knicks commit 20.5 personal fouls every game and they connect on 79.1% from the charity stripe.

The Knicks are ranked 8th in basketball in points given up per game with 112.6. They are forcing 14.1 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 46.2% from the floor (8th in the NBA). The New York defense allows 36.7% on shots from beyond the arc (662 of 1,804) and their opponents are knocking down 78.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 24.7 assists and 41.6 boards per contest, which ranks them 5th and 5th in basketball.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Los Angeles

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