Gabe Vincent felt Lakers needed the test of the Knicks game

The Lakers were challenged in their win over the Knicks and Gabe Vincent thinks that’s exactly what this team needed.

In their matchup against the Knicks, the Lakers were dead in the water. New York led the entire third quarter and entered the final period in control. Los Angeles would need everyone playing at the top of their game to extend their winning streak.

They did just that, with players like Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht and Gabe Vincent stepping up big to help the Lakers win 113-109 in overtime.

It was their first overtime victory of the season, and the Knicks pushed the Lakers in a way no other opponent has during their eight-game winning streak.

Vincent spoke postgame about why he feels this challenge is exactly what the Lakers needed.

“We needed this test,” Vincent said. “We needed some adversity. We’ve been playing well. We’ve been rolling, but we went down in the first half, we had to come back and fight. We needed to build that character.”

If you want a character-building win, then the Lakers certainly got one on Thursday. New York is the third seed in the East. Their fans came to LA and made themselves known, and trailing late, the Lakers had to dig deep to pull off the win.

Vincent himself was as clutch as they come. He was literally perfect from the field. All four of his shots were 3-pointers, and his bucket at the 1:21 mark of the fourth completed the Lakers comeback, giving them their first lead since the second quarter.

All wins are equal, but some feel grander. The Lakers now added a quality win against a top opponent, and by fighting back, they demonstrated that they can win under less than ideal circumstances.

This year has been a tale of two Lakers teams: the pre-Luka Dončić squad and the post-Luka unit. Right now, all that matters is getting as much experience as possible with the post-Luka Lakers, so they can be battle-tested come playoff time.

A victory like this gives the team belief and demonstrates that even when they are struggling, if they keep on playing hard on both ends of the floor, they can come back and win.

LA will now start a four-game road trip as the toughest part of their schedule begins. They have this win as an example of overcoming adversity, and they’ll likely need it, considering they have to play 14 games over the next 24 days.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.