New York Knicks vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction, 3/8/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: New York Knicks vs Los Angeles Lakers

Date: Sunday, March 8, 2026

Location: crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA

TV: ABC

The New York Knicks (40-23) are headed to crypto.com Arena on Sunday where they will attempt to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (37-25).

The Knicks played the Thunder and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 103-100 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Knicks walked away with 24 while the Thunder finished the game with 22 personal fouls. They made 16 out of their 42 tries from downtown. Oklahoma City ended up going 84.0% at the free throw line by converting 21 of their 25 tries. Additionally, Oklahoma City totaled 38 rebounds (3 offensive, 35 defensive) and earned 3 blocked shots. Oklahoma City distributed 21 assists and had 8 steals for this game. With regard to the defense, New York allowed the other team to shoot 45.2% from the floor on 33 out of 73 shooting. They also doled out 23 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 16 turnovers and getting 5 steals. With respect to pulling down rebounds, they compiled a total of 48 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the free throw line, the Knicks made 16 of their 22 tries for a rate of 72.7%. New York walked away from the game with a 42.0% FG percentage (37 of 88) and made 10 of their 35 3-point attempts.

Karl-Anthony Towns is one guy who had an impact for the contest. He was able to score 17 points on 7 out of 8 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 33 minutes played and snagged 17 rebounds. Towns finished the game shooting 87.5% from the floor and dished out 1 assist.

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New York heads into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 40-23 this year. They currently have an average of 116.8 pts per game (10th in basketball) while hitting 47.2% from the floor. The Knicks are connecting on 37.4% on shots from beyond the arc (928 of 2,482) and 78.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, New York is collecting 46.0 boards per contest and has racked up 1,710 assists this season, which has them ranked 10th in the league in terms of passing. They cough up possession 13.6 times per contest and as a squad are committing 20.4 personal fouls per game.

On defense, the Knicks have forced 14.4 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.4 personal fouls. They surrender 35.7% on 3-pointers while they are 5th in the league in PPG allowed (110.7). The Knicks are giving up a field goal percentage of 45.7% (2,482 of 5,426) and they surrender 41.5 boards per game as a group. They are ranked 7th in the league in giving up assists with 1,548 surrendered so far this year.

When they last stepped on the court, the Lakers took a loss by a final score of 120-113 when they played the Nuggets. When discussing cleaning up the glass, Los Angeles allowed Denver to pull down 41 in total (7 on the offensive glass). They went 45.2% from downtown by shooting 14 of 31 and ended up going 28 out of 31 at the free throw line (90.3%). The Lakers allowed the Nuggets to bury 39 of their 75 attempts from the field which had them shooting 52.0% in the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Lakers shot 45 for 87 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.7%. In reference to three-point attempts, Los Angeles knocked down 13 out of their 31 tries (41.9%). They were able to convert 10 of the free throws for a rate of 66.7%. The Nuggets had 16 fouls for this game which got the Lakers to the charity stripe for a total of 15 shots. They also coughed up the ball 10 times, while getting 12 steals in this game. The Lakers were able to corral 26 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 32 for this game.

Luka Doncic ended up having an impact for the Lakers for the game. He knocked down 11 of 24 in the game for a rate of 45.8%, and had 11 rebounds. Doncic racked up 27 points in his 40 mins on the court and added 7 assists in this contest.

Los Angeles has a win-loss record of 37-25 so far this season. The Lakers are responsible for committing 18.6 personal fouls every game while shooting 76.7% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 25.5 times per contest (19th in the league) and they lose possession via turnover 14.7 times per game. Los Angeles has 7,178 points so far this year (115.8 per contest) and they snag 40.9 boards per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Lakers are connecting on 49.9% from the field, which is ranked 1st in basketball.

The Los Angeles defense allows 36.2% on 3-point attempts (817 of 2,258) and opponents are knocking down 79.2% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 27.5 assists and 41.0 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 21st and 3rd in the NBA. The Lakers defensively are ranked 15th in the NBA in points allowed per game with 115.3. They are able to force 14.7 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 48.5% from the floor (26th in basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Los Angeles

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