Again, Jalen Brunson The Knicks team fell short by 42 points in New York’s 98-91 win over the Kings on Saturday night in Sacramento, scoring 42 points.
Outside of Brunson, the Knicks offense remains a question mark. But maybe that’s the problem with a Tom Thibodeau-coached team. The second option for the Knicks is to keep their opponent on the other side of the floor. And on a physical, rough night where the referees decided to let them play, New York’s second option did enough to get the win, holding the Kings to just 35.3 percent from the floor (27 percent from three), while the visitors defeated their foes 53-43, had 10 blocks and added eight steals.
Burnson, to his credit, carried the load with his second straight night of 40 points on 17-for-27 shooting (5-for-10 from three) with four rebounds, four steals and two assists (with six turnovers). in 36 minutes. And he had to do it all, as his teammates shot just 34 percent on 58 attempts from the floor and 20.7 percent from three on 29 attempts.
With the win, New York improved to 40-27 on the season, staying in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Sacramento fell 38-28 and is just a half-game ahead of Dallas for the No. 7 spot in the West.
Here are the takeaways…
– Of Julius Randle is still sidelined, the question remains: Is there enough offense outside of Brunson? And if Brunson isn’t there, who is? Well, that’s a question for another evening.
The Kings, aware of this lack of scoring, went to double Brunson on the first possession of the game, but the Knicks worked the ball around to find OG Anunobywho was doubtful to play as he works his way back to full fitness after elbow surgery, before an uncontested two-handed jam.
Through the first twelve minutes of the game, Brunson made three of the team’s nine field goals, with non-Brunson Knicks shooting 6-for-16 and 1-for-9 from three.
Fortunately for the visitors, the defense is coming along well. And with NBA referees seemingly letting more physicality go unpunished since the All-Star break, the Knicks had another advantage, entering the second quarter trailing just 22-21 while holding Sacramento to 8-for-20 (2-for-8 from three) with five turnovers.
– In the second, Alec Burks knocked down a pair of threes, something the Knicks desperately needed. Entering Saturday’s games, he struggled through his first 14 games after landing in a trade with the Pistons, shooting just 28.1 percent from three after shooting 40.1 percent in 43 games with Detroit. Burks had 12 points off the bench on 4-for-10 shooting (2-for-5 from three) in the win.
But the Knicks still needed Brunson to take over, and he did so with a 7-0 run of his own midway through the second to take a 36-33 lead. The guard scored 15 points in the second quarter on 6-of-7 shooting (3-of-4 from three) and the Knicks took a 53-48 lead into halftime.
The non-Brunson Knicks shot 6-for-14 in the frame, but held Sacramento to 8-for-21 (38.19 percent) from the floor.
– The third quarter began with Brunson (who else?) taking a circuitous route to the basket for a left-handed layup before grabbing a steal and scoring for a nine-point lead, prompting a Kings timeout and a lead of 57-48.
But the nine-point lead would slip away as the Knicks’ offense went completely off the boil amid a 17-6 Kings run with 7:40 of play. Brunson would answer with five points, giving him 33 of New York’s 68 points.
In the third, Burnson went 5-for-9 from the floor, while the rest of the team went 3-for-14.
– The Knicks’ second unit, looking out in the second half after committing their second 24-second foul, went on a 9-0 run for a five-point lead with less than seven to play.
Five of those points came from Bojan Bogdanovic, who, like Burks, has struggled to shoot after landing in the trade with Detroit. He finished the game 4-for-12 from the floor (2-for-5 from three) for nine points in 24 minutes off the bench. The Croatian added five rebounds and an assist while committing three turnovers and was a plus-7.
After a series of missed shots down the stretch, the Knicks led by three and had the ball in Brunson’s hands. And the guard, who himself missed three straight buckets, got the Driving Layup with 37 seconds to play, putting New York up by five points before being locked off the line moments later.
The Knicks would make just eight shots in the fourth (with Brunson contributing three), but the defense held the Kings to 6-for-26 shooting and outscored their hosts 23-17.
– Missing Mitchell Robinson and Randle, the Knicks had a tough time with the Kings’ 6-foot-1 big man Domantas Sabonis. The Lithuianaina were given a number of preferential matches against Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa, scored 18 in the first half on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. But the screws were tightened after the break as Sabonis finished with just 21 points while going 1-for-5 from the floor in the second half.
– Donte DiVincenzo, who like Anunoby spent most of the fourth quarter in favor of Bogdanovic and Burks, finished with 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting (3-for-12 from three) with two assists and two rebounds. He was a minus-6 in 30 minutes.
– Jos Hart had nine points on 2-for-7 shooting, but added 13 rebounds and numerous hustle plays. Isaiah Hartenstein made all three of his attempts for seven points, added 14 rebounds and led the team with five blocks. Anunoby struggled mightily in the 33rd minute, making just the dunk to open the game and missing his remaining seven shots (including four threes).
Highlights
What’s next…
The Knicks remain in NorCal as they take on the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, with tipoff scheduled for 10 p.m. New York time.