It was too much Julius Randle and too much Knicks’ defense for the Lakers to handle.
Yes, this was Lakers Lite, but Randle punished his former team with 34 points and 10 rebounds and the Knicks’ crushing defense stymied the gold-clad defending champions in a 111-96 victory.
The Lakers (33-21) are the No. 1 defense in the NBA — based on the all-important defensive efficiency number. But Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks showed the Lakers on Monday at the Garden that sometimes numbers can lie.
“We had to bring our hard hat,’’ Randle said. “We’ve relied on our defense all year.