The Knicks were defeated by the Los Angeles Clippers 126-118 as they continued their road trip on Monday night.

Here are some takeaways...

- The Knicks' three-point defense struggled in the early-going, as the Clippers knocked down six of their first 12 attempts from behind the arc. New York also carried over their sloppiness from Sunday, turning the ball over seven times in the opening quarter, but hot starts from Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby helped keep things close (28-24).

Brunson (13) and Anunoby (seven) combined to score 20 of the Knicks' 24 points in the quarter.

- With Brunson resting, Karl-Anthony Towns was finally able to get himself going early in the second. The All-Star big man scored 17 of his 21 points during the middle frame, but he was forced to the bench after grabbing at his right knee on two different dunk attempts.

Towns did return and drilled four straight buckets, but he limped to the locker room heading into the break.

- New York had just five players in the scoring department at halftime, and Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart had just two points apiece. They also shot just 29 percent from three, Landry Shamet missed all six of his attempts, and they committed 10 turnovers as a team to put them down nine (64-55).

The Knicks also had no answer for Kawhi Leonard, who tied Towns for the game-high with 21 points.

- It was much of the same coming out of the break, as New York simply could not get anything to fall from downtown, and Los Angeles quickly opened their largest advantage of the night at the time (15). Four different Clippers joined Leonard in double-digits, led by Brook Lopez (13) and Bennedict Mathurin (12).

Shamet got a three to fall with three minutes left in the third, accounting for the Knicks' first bench points of the night. The energy level picked up from there, as New York finally strung together some stops, and they were able to cut the deficit back down to seven heading into the fourth (88-81).

- Tyler Kolek saw time off the bench early in the fourth with Jose Alvarado missing all four of his shot attempts.

- New York continued to show a ton of fight and cut the deficit all the way down to five at numerous points, but each time they put together a mini-run the Clippers counterpunched with a big bucket on the other end. LA never looked back as they handed the Knicks their second loss in as many games.

- Towns led all scorers with 35 points, Brunson had 28, Anunoby 22, and Hart finished with 12. Bridges chipped in just seven on three-of-eight from the field, and he was benched down the stretch in a close game. Shamet and Mohamed Diawara accounted for all 14 of the bench points.

- Leonard led Los Angeles with 29 points, seven boards, and eight assists. Mathurin chipped in 28 off the bench, Lopez had 16, Derrick Jones Jr. 16, and Garland drilled five threes as part of his 23 points as the Clippers climbed back to the .500 mark for the first time on the season.

- The Knicks turned the ball over 20 times and shot just 35 percent from three-point land.

Game MVP: Kawhi Leonard

Leonard led the way for LA's offense, knocking down 10-of-19 shots from the field.

Here are some takeaways...

Game MVP: Kawhi Leonard

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