Brunson, Hart help New York Knicks overcome 21-point deficit in win over Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings’ first-quarter flurry didn’t last long in the world’s most famous arena.
The Kings jumped out to a 15-point lead after the first 12 minutes on the strength of hot shooting from 3-point range while the New York Knicks struggled against Sacramento’s improved defense.
But the Kings couldn’t contain the Knicks from the second quarter on as New York rallied from a 21-point deficit to win 120-109 after outscoring Sacramento 100-74 over the last three quarters.
“I gotta figure something out,” Kings coach Mike Brown said while eluding to a 29-12 free-throw disparity that favored the Knicks. “I gotta do a better job helping my team out with drawing fouls or gamesmanship.”
Sacramento was outscored by 13 points from the free-throw line in a game lost by 11 points, which isn’t a new trend. The Kings rank 20th in the NBA in free-throw attempts, but they don’t help themselves by being dead last in percentage at 74.4%.
That’s why they rank 27th in made free throws per game, which is among the reasons the offense that set an NBA record in efficiency last season ranks 13th after Thursday’s loss.
Brown didn’t mention the officiating Thursday, although he has at various points throughout the season — like when he famously used his laptop to show film of calls after a Jan. 14 loss in Milwaukee, which cost him a $50,000 fine, or after losing to the Suns Feb. 13 and being frustrated with a late no call on a Domantas Sabonis lay up.
Jalen Brunson scored 35 points against the Kings with nine of them coming from the charity stripe. He outscored Sacramento by himself by two points at the line. A similar thing happened when the Kings in last Friday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks when Luka Doncic went 10 of 14 from the line while Sacramento went 8 of 12 as a team.
“When you get a guy lifted in the air like Jalen does,” Brown continued, “you just got to jump into his body and see if you can get to the free-throw line. ... We have to do a better job with our gamesmanship, especially when we’re driving to the rim and we get a guy lifted.
“When we get guys lifted, we’re taking tough fadeaway shot, so our gamesmanship has to be better to get us to the free-throw line, especially against better teams.”
Among the Kings’ problems is having players who aren’t interested in the popular trend among NBA superstars of baiting officials into calls. De’Aaron Fox, who scored a team-high 29 points Thursday, ranks 19th in attempts with 5.9. But that’s less than half of the averages for thee league leaders, Joel Embiid (11.7) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (10.8). Doncic is third at 8.7.
Fox pushed back on the idea that he should try to bait officials into drawing more fouls when asked about it after the game.
“The reason why I don’t like doing it,” he said, “say you’re trying to get a call and you’re not focusing on making the shot. Now, if they don’t call the call, you’re probably not making the shot. I’ve always been a believer in you go in and try to make the shot and if they call the foul they call it, and if they don’t, it is what it is.
“If they see a foul — you got guys getting hugged going to the basket, it’s clear as day, and they don’t call it, so it is what it is.”
Domantas Sabonis, who extended his double-double streak to 59 games with 17 points and 11 rebounds, went to the free-throw line five times and made three, in line with his season average of 5.0 attempts per night. Malik Monk, who suffered a knee injury in the Mavericks game, is third on the Kings in free-throw attempts.
“Obviously, selling calls is almost like a talent in this league,” Kings forward Keegan Murray said. “There’s only a couple guys on our team that are capable of doing that at this point. Obviously, Brunson’s really good at it — we want to work on that in the offseason because I feel like now’s a little too late to figure that out.”
Murray gets to the line less than twice per game on average. And given he’s one of the team’s biggest wing players in the rotation, getting to the line more consistently could add to his efficiency overall. He shoots 82% from the line. But Murray is like Fox; he fundamentally doesn’t want rely on officiating to get points.
“I’ve never been like that,” Murray said. “Basketball to me is a sport that’s physical. If you end up getting to the free-throw line, you end up getting to the free-throw line. But in terms of just trying to get a call in the halfcourt, it’s not my thing. And I don’t think basketball should always be played like that.”
Sacramento’s defense, which ranked fifth in the NBA over its previous 15 games, couldn’t slow Brunson, an All-NBA candidate, and All-Hustle candidate Josh Hart, who combined for 65 points in front of the many A- and B-list celebrities sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden. Hart added 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Knicks (45-31). Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from distance while New York outscored the Kings by 26 points in his 39 minutes.
Fox’s 29 points came while making six 3-pointers for the Kings (44-32). Murray added 18 points in the first game of a critical four-game road trip.
The Kings and Knicks came into Thursday’s game with identical 44-31 records. But the two teams are having very different seasons with New York holding the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference while Sacramento is eighth in the West, facing an uphill climb to secure a guaranteed playoff spot rather than a play-in tournament appearance.
Both sides have also been dealing with injuries to key rotation players. The Kings just lost Malik Monk to a sprained MCL in his right knee, though he expressed optimism about his rehab to The Bee before Thursday’s tip off, which came a week after Kevin Huerter was lost for the season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
The Knicks were without Julius Randle, who the team announced Thursday would undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. Randle has been out since dislocating his shoulder Jan. 27. New York was also missing defensive standout OG Anunoby because of an elbow injury that required surgery in early February.
Anunoby, of course, was acquired before the trade deadline from the Toronto Raptors after being linked to the Kings. He suffered with a setback after playing in three games in March while Thursday marked the ninth straight game he has missed.
Anunoby’s last game came in Sacramento when the Kings and Knicks played March 16. New York won in a defensive slugfest, 98-91, thanks to Brunson’s 42 points.
The Kings on Thursday opened making 7 of 10 from 3-point range in the first quarter with Fox and Keon Ellis combining to make all five of their attempts. Sacramento led by as many 21 in the second quarter, but the Knicks fought back to make it 60-52 at halftime behind 18 points from Brunson and 12 points from Hart. New York finished the first half on a 27-14 run.
Fox had 16 points in the first half thanks to four made 3s while Ellis and Davion Mitchell both had 11. Mitchell made his first five field-goal attempts.
DiVincenzo hit a pair of 3s midway through the third quarter to cut Sacramento’s lead to six, leading Sacramento to call a timeout. He would later tie the game at 84 with a 3 over Sasha Vezenkov and was then fouled by Fox shooting a 3 on the next possession. DiVincenzo made all three free throws to put th Knicks up 87-84.
Fox tied the game with a whirling, stepback 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds left in the third, but the Kings were outscored 33-22 in the fourth.
The Kings will continue their road trip Friday against the Boston Celtics, who have the NBA’s best record, before returning to New York to play the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. They will wrap up their trip Tuesday when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This story was originally published April 4, 2024 at 7:38 PM.
