Knicks 118, Lakers 112: With Derrick Rose Back on Court, Knicks Handle Depleted Lakers

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Derrick Rose scored 25 points on Sunday in his return to the Knicks’ lineup after missing two games.

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Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — As extended westward road trips go, this one could hardly have been drawn up better for the Knicks.

Five games in nine days, with none back-to-back. Four against opponents with records well under .500, the notable exception being Golden State. All transpiring in a reduced glare after a public swipe by the team president Phil Jackson at Carmelo Anthony that left the player chafed.

On Sunday, the schedule gave them the gift of a meeting with the Lakers, losers in five straight games in part because they have been left undermanned by injuries to four players. Guards D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young did start in tandem after one or both had sat out for the past three weeks, but they were operating under a restriction on minutes that was designed to ease them back in.

The foreseeable, though not inevitable, outcome at Staples Center was a 118-112 Knicks win enabled by the conspicuous return of…

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