NEW YORK >> Brandon Ingram stood alone in front of a sellout crowd on a historic court. Ninety seconds into the first start that he had really earned, not because of an injury to someone else, not as a contingency plan, but as a symbol of his own sweat and effort and promise. He grabbed the ball and shot a free throw.
Air ball.
A sellout crowd of Knicks fans, cold-hearted New Yorkers, erupted with delight.
“I think somebody opened a window,” the soft-spoken Ingram joked.
Was it nerves?
“I don’t know why else he would air ball a free throw,” coach Luke Walton said.
The Lakers rolled to a 121-107 win over Phil Jackson’s New York Knicks on Monday, snapping a 12-game road losing streak and freeing Ingram and the rest of the Lakers to chuckle about the early misstep. For Ingram, it came on a significant night.
Earlier in the day, Walton informed his players of dramatic changes to the Lakers lineup.
High-priced offseason acquisitions Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov were out, Ingram and Tarik Black were in.
Ingram tried to downplay the significance of the moment before the game, but finally acknowledged his 15th start would be unlike the others that came before it.
“It’s different,” Ingram admitted. “I know before it was starting at a point guard when someone was hurt, but just try to make the best, try to take advantage of it and try to be aggressive and be great on the defensive end.”
On the flip side were Deng and Mozgov, high-paid veterans who have now been benched midway through the first season of four-year contracts that will pay them a combined $136 million.
That makes for some pricey courtside seats, even by Lakers standards.
Walton said he made the decision to reshuffle the lineup after consulting with executive vice president Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak in recent days. Both, he said, were supportive.
Embarrassing free throw aside, Ingram shone in his new role. He finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, one of seven players to score in double figures. He made his next two shots after the air ball, both 3-pointers.
“That’s one of the things I like most about Brandon … which is why I think he’s going to have a lot of success in this league,” Walton said. “He trusts who he is as a player. But I thought he had a really good overall night for his first time playing in this building.”
The Lakers raced out to a 27-point lead in the first half before allowing the Knicks to cut that to 16 at halftime. Walton cited individual performances across the board for the victory, saying “a lot of guys had little spurts of where they really kind of made game-winning plays.”
“I don’t know if it was the new lineup but we got a great team effort,” Walton said. “We’re starting to play consistent defense, which is the first step in kind of building that side of the identity.”
Lou Williams led L.A. with 22 points. Black made his fifth straight start, but first in place of Mozgov, and scored nine points to go with 10 rebounds.
The locker room was buzzing following the game, but the moves were bound to create some conflict.
When asked how he felt about the move, Deng countered, “Does it matter?”
A two-time All-Star, Deng had come off the bench only twice in his previous seven-plus seasons. However, he signed up for this. When he joined the Lakers, they were grooming prized draft choices Ingram and Julius Randle at the two forward spots where Deng can play.
“The whole year I knew it was about young guys,” Deng said. “I think everybody knows that. We’ve got a lot of talent in this locker room and we want to develop the young guys.”
Deng struggled offensively even against the Knicks’ lesser bench players. He scored seven points in 24 minutes and missed five of his six field goal attempts. All told, it was the sort of uninspiring performance that made his hold on the starting small forward job so tenuous in the first place.
Mozgov’s night was even worse. He did not even play, with Black and rookie Ivica Zubac (10 points, seven rebounds, career-high four blocks) seeing all the time at center.
Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 26 points for the Knicks.
Walton said the investment the front office made in Deng and Mozgov was a consideration in the move, but that it wouldn’t dictate his coaching.
“It comes to mind,” Walton said, “but it always comes back to what I think is best for the team. Not only right at this moment, but the future of the team. We try to make our decisions based on that, not on the salaries.”
Walton said the coaching staff would continue to evaluate the lineups on a game-by-game basis, but indicated that he wanted to give the new starting unit time to develop.
“I’m not going to say it’s permanent,” he said, “but we’re going to see how it goes. If they come out and have a bad first quarter, we’re not going to just blow it all up and go to the other starting lineup to start the second half. We know they’re young and that’s part of why we’re doing it.”
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