Lakers bring shaky win over Knicks into fold

NEW YORK -- The Lakers were almost caught with their Madison Square guard down.

Another fourth-quarter fold was nearly unveiled by the team that had already collected a string of them, but the Lakers thought better of it and fended off the New York Knicks, 95-90, Sunday.

They managed to go from stomping the Knicks to merely surviving them, but the latter carried the day, barely, thanks to the bottom line of a victory at Madison Square Garden and a 3-1 record on a quick jaunt into Eastern Conference territory.

Jordan Farmar saved the game, the trip, and some postgame grief from Coach Phil Jackson by stealing David Lee’s inbounds pass with 2.8 seconds left and dunking at the other end to preserve what was left of a onetime 25-point lead.

Farmar had been yanked a few minutes earlier in favor of Javaris Crittenton, but he atoned after Ronny Turiaf slightly deflected the ball as Lee inbounded it.

On the brighter side for the Lakers (17-10), they won for the eighth time in 10 games and managed to not entirely blow a comfortable lead, as they did an 11-point advantage Thursday in Cleveland.

Kobe Bryant looked as if his strained groin muscle was no longer a problem, finishing with 39 points on 14-for-28 shooting. He also had 11 rebounds, eight assists, and a fun time jawing with longtime Knicks fan Spike Lee.

But Bryant and the Lakers stagnated in the fourth quarter by settling for jump shots and three-point attempts.

Andrew Bynum was the only other Laker to finish with double-figure scoring (13 points).

“I kind of feel like we lost today,” Bynum said. “It’s got to stop. We keep getting these leads and then we just kind of coast and other teams come back. I think we’ve given away three or four games this season. We’re not going to make it to the next level until we’re able to actually keep our foot on somebody’s neck.”

The Lakers were cruising and Knicks fans were booing in the first half as Bryant had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists in driving the Lakers to a 55-37 halftime lead.

His three-point basket with 6:28 left in the third quarter provided a 70-45 lead and prompted Knicks fans to start a “Fire Isiah” chant a few seconds later, a derisive reference to beleaguered Knicks Coach Isiah Thomas.

But Jamal Crawford scored 30 of his 31 points in the second half, giving the Lakers the need for divine intervention, in a sense.

“We [said] the Lord’s Prayer after a Sunday ballgame -- forgive us our sins and trespasses,” Jackson said. “We had some trespasses, no doubt.”

As Crawford and Nate Robinson (16 points) sliced past the Lakers’ guards over and over, Jackson put Crittenton in the game with 3:52 to play. Crittenton had sat out six of the previous seven games, but Jackson was trying to prove a point.

“Things weren’t happening very well with [Farmar] out there on the floor, and I wanted him to come out and sit for a second,” he said.

Lesson learned.

Farmar and Turiaf combined for the game-saving play with the Lakers ahead, 93-90.

“I saw the ball slow up, and it was just right in front of me,” Farmar said. “I just punched it toward our direction and chased it down.”

Said Jackson: “Defensively, he can hustle and he can do some things out there to help us out.”

Bryant didn’t get to play in New York last season because of a one-game suspension for striking San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili in the face.

On Sunday, he became the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 points when he made a three-point shot early in the third quarter. Bryant is 29 years and 4 months old.

“I always like playing here, period,” Bryant said. “Last year, I didn’t have an opportunity to play and I was upset about it.”

After collecting victories over Chicago, Philadelphia and the Knicks on the trip, the Lakers face significantly tougher competition back at home with games against Phoenix, Utah and Boston in the next week.

Until then, they can consider their trip a success, if not a suitable dress rehearsal for a nine-game, 14-day monster that awaits them next month.

“It’s a good road trip,” Jackson said. “We feel really bad about not sweeping it, now that we look back in perspective, but if you win three out of four on a road trip, you’ve got to be happy with it.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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Filling it up

Kobe Bryant became the 31st (and youngest) NBA player to score more than 20,000 points.

*--* ALL-TIME LEADERS 1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 2. Karl Malone 36,928 3. Michael Jordan 32,292 ACTIVE 11. Shaquille O’Neal 25,842 24. Allen Iverson 21,516 31. Kobe Bryant 20,019 *--*