LOS ANGELES — At least on this night, Julius Randle got the better of LeBron James. 

Randle won the battle of power forwards against the ageless wonder Monday, dropping a hard-fought 27 points with 13 rebounds as the Knicks escaped Crypto.com Arena with a 114-109 victory over the Lakers. 

Battered and bruised throughout the roster — with Randle getting stitches on his lip, Jalen Brunson absorbing a black eye and Isaiah Hartenstein’s left arm bloodied from a gash — the Knicks were satisfied with the performance. 

“Scratch it out, gut it out,” Tom Thibodeau said. 

James, the oldest active player in the NBA, produced 25 points in 39 minutes with a triple-double, but missed 13 of his 23 attempts as L.A.’s comeback attempt fell short in front of a several former players and celebrities, including Stephon Marbury and Ron Artest.

Fittingly, New York’s victory was sealed when James bricked a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left, leading to Randle’s breakaway jam on the other end.

Randle, who had four stitches put in his mouth at halftime after getting clobbered on a drive, paid respect to his beaten opponent. 

“Every time I play against him. I learn how he attacks the game, controls the game, plays with pace,” Randle said. “How he looks to score, get other guys going. He’s truly a genius of this game. One of the greatest if not the greatest. Any time I get a chance to match up against him, I love to compete against him and learn from him.”

The victory finished a successful Western Conference road trip for the Knicks (15-11), who went 2-2 before playing at Brooklyn on Wednesday.

They avenged their blowout defeat two nights earlier in the same arena, although against the Clippers. 

Brunson added 29 points in 37 minutes Monday for the Knicks, who took control with a 15-2 run to end the third quarter.

The Lakers cut their deficit to four multiple times in the final four minutes, but couldn’t stop Randle or Brunson on key possessions.

The Lakers (15-12) were at full strength after some questions about the availability of their best players.

James, Anthony Davis (29 points, 14 rebounds) and D’Angelo Russell (nine points)  were all on the injury report and all started for L.A. 

James fell to 41-17 lifetime against the Knicks. 

Randle, who played 43 minutes, has always taken extra motivation and oomph into his matchups against the Lakers, the team that drafted him and dumped him four years later in free agency. 

He entered the evening averaging more than 25 points in 12 games against the Lakers.

Then he came out firing Monday night, scoring 10 points in the opening quarter while relentlessly attacking the rim. 

Coincidentally, part of the reason the Lakers didn’t re-sign Randle in 2018 was they needed the cap space to acquire James. 

That worked out for L.A. 

Just not on Monday night. 

Randle said he was activated by getting hit in the face without a foul being called. 

“After I had to get four stitches, yeah. I was a little bit more motivated,” he said. 

Without Mitchell Robinson, whose surgically-repaired ankle won’t be re-evaluated for another seven to nine weeks, Thibodeau’s center rotation remains a mess.

Jericho Sims started again Monday but turned his ankle on the opening tip. 

He continued to play, committed two quick fouls, and was pulled for good with a sprained ankle after just three minutes. It was the second straight game Sims’ first shift lasted less than four minutes, and now his availability moving forward is in question. 

But the Knicks still controlled the boards Monday because of Hartenstein (17 rebounds in 39 minutes).

Thibodeau still had to turn to Taj Gibson for six minutes. It was the meaningful time of the season for Gibson, who was out of the league just last week. 

“We knew coming into the game that they’re a very good offensive rebounding team,” James said. “They thrive on playing in the paint. We had opportunities to get some hits on guys, we just weren’t able to clean glass all the time.”

Behind Randle’s aggressiveness, the Knicks led by as many as 12 in the second quarter.

But the bench couldn’t hold the advantage and the Lakers took a 58-57 edge at the break, courtesy of a 19-6 Lakers run to end the half. 

Then, the Knicks responded by dominating the end of the third quarter.