Still reeling from the loss of All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, the New York Knicks badly need a victory.
New York has dropped its last three games overall and is 0-2 on a five-game Western swing entering Monday night’s contest against the Sacramento Kings.
The Knicks lost Brunson to a sprained right ankle during Thursday’s 113-109 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game of the trip. One night later, they fell 105-95 to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Now, New York feels the urgency to beat the Kings without Brunson, who averages 26.3 points per game and will have his return timeline updated in about two weeks.
“It’s next man up,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said. “He’s a huge part of our team. We’ve been playing with grit and have to go out there and do it again.”
The trip will conclude with games against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday and Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
Towns recorded 23 points and 10 rebounds against the Clippers, and Mikal Bridges added 22 points. Josh Hart collected a career-best 20 rebounds to go with 14 points and six assists.
Miles McBride played 34 minutes with Brunson sidelined and had just seven points. The guy nicknamed “Deuce” was 2-of-13 shooting from the field.
Over the past three games, McBride is averaging 4.3 points on 4-of-26 shooting.
“I think anybody can always shoot the ball better,” McBride said after the loss to the Clippers. “I think defensively there were some plays I could have had, probably could have come up with some more rebounds.
“I’ve been a point guard my whole life. I’ll bounce back and we’ll figure it out.”
The Knicks are comfortably in third place in the Eastern Conference despite their brief swoon.
New York is trying to complete a two-game season sweep of Sacramento. The Knicks recorded a 143-120 home triumph on Jan. 25 behind 33 points from OG Anunoby, while Malik Monk scored 31 for Sacramento.
Monk (sprained right toe) and star Domantas Sabonis (strained left hamstring) remain out for the Kings. The team said Sabonis will be re-evaluated on Tuesday.
More pain occurred Sunday night when Sacramento lost 111-110 in overtime to the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard got two friendly bounces on his short hook shot that dropped in as time expired to give Los Angeles the victory.
“Tough one. Left-handed hook at the buzzer,” Kings interim coach Doug Christie said. “Just going to have to live with that one.”
Making it tougher is that Sacramento had a seven-point lead with 1:48 left in regulation and didn’t score again.
Los Angeles scored seven straight points, with James Harden nailing a runner with 11.9 seconds left to tie it at 97 and force the overtime.
“We’re putting ourselves in good positions,” Kings forward Keegan Murray said. “We have to finish games at this point.”
The loss dropped the Kings 1 1/2 games behind the Clippers for eighth place in the West. Sacramento is 3 1/2 games clear of the 11th place Phoenix Suns, the top team on the outside of the play-in derby.
DeMar DeRozan recorded 31 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Kings on Sunday. Zach LaVine also excelled with 30 points while Keegan Murray added 15.
Sacramento committed just eight turnovers and had a 48-38 rebounding advantage but was unable to come home with a victory.
“We want to win every game, so that just sucks, and it hurts and we have to deal with the pain that our league brings,” Christie said.
–Field Level Media
