The Kings light the beam

The Precious Achuiwa revenge game

After the Knicks played the Trail Blazers on Sunday night, they had an off day/travel day before preparing for their next game. The team practiced in Sacramento, CA on Tuesday ahead of their game Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center. I spent the last two days - when I wasn’t working remotely - exploring more of Portland, catching views of Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens between games of Palikka¹ with Jim and family.

While I can’t wait to get back to Portland someday, I can’t confidently say the same about Sac-town. I had booked a room at a Comfort Inn off the interstate, just a bit down the street from a Best Western, and across the street from a Motel 6, right next to a Quality Inn, and adjacent to an encampment of unhoused people and dogs by the Sacramento Riverfront. To say this area was on the wrong side of the tracks would be an accurate description. As I walked to the arena down a poorly lit bike path, I passed several abandoned train cars like this one.

and this one.

Arena Experience

The Kings play at the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento.² I don’t want to continue to punch down on Sac-town but they must be on a budget because there were no T-shirts tossed. The T-shirt toss was instead replaced with a plastic mini basketball toss. I guess times are hard for the billionaire team owners.

Seating Chart

One of the practical reasons I’ve wanted to watch the Knicks play on the road is the chance to buy tickets in the lower bowl without having to fork over the price of a brand-new late-model iPhone. For just north of $300, I snagged a seat front and center in Section 120, Row A.

Game Night

The Sacramento Kings and New York Knicks have played 312 regular-season games. The Kings held a 159-153 record in those games, but the Knicks have won the last four contests between the teams.³

Game Notes

Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray were out for Sacramento. Trey Jemison, Kevin McCullar Jr., and Landry Shamet were out for New York. During the starting lineups, Coach Mike Brown got the loudest ovation for any Knick from the Sacramento crowd. Brown coached the Kings from 2022 to 2024.

The Knicks scored the first two buckets of the game on their first couple possessions - uncontested layups from Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns to go up 4-0. At that moment, I distinctly remember thinking to myself, I just hope it’s not a blowout, assuming the Knicks were on their way to an easy win.⁴ However, the Kings woke up and led 12-6 by the time Mike Brown called his first timeout. A minute later, Brunson was isolated on the right sideline against former Knick Precious Achiuwa when he simply crumpled to the floor, allowing Precious an easy steal and fast break layup.

The rest of the Knicks must have taken Jalen’s injury hard and proceeded to miss every shot they took from behind the arc. The Knicks were 0-9 from three, and the Kings were up 32-17 by the end of the quarter. The Knicks look lost at this point, and things were only going to get worse.

Without their all-star and leader, the Knicks sent out Deuce McBride, Tyler Kolek, Mitchell Robinson, Karl Towns, and Josh Hart to start the second quarter. After missing their first twelve three-point shots, Josh Hart finally makes one to cut the lead to seventeen. The Knicks turned the Kings over on consecutive possessions and got some stops, cutting the lead to just twelve, 48-36, midway through the second quarter. This was as close as they’d get until the game’s final moments.⁵

The lead was 56-42 at the half. The Knicks trailed by twenty points after three quarters, 96-76, despite attempting twenty more shots than the Kings. The Knicks typically get up more attempts than the other team because of their strong offensive rebounding advantage, but that edge was negated by two factors: poor shooting and even poorer defense.

1. The Knicks shot the ball so poorly. They began the half shooting just 6% from three-point range. A couple of makes brought their accuracy up to 12% by the end of the third. This was a historically bad shooting night for the squad.⁶

2. The Knicks sent the Kings to the free-throw line 16 more times up to that point, a sign of playing defense with their hands (reaching in) rather than their feet (getting into a good defensive position so as not to foul).

The fourth quarter was more of the same, with the Knicks never getting close until the final few minutes. The final score was a deceiving 112-101.

Road Warriors

I was going to give a half-hearted mention to Jordan Clarkson, who provided some spark off the bench, but there were truly no Knicks worthy of the recognition. Instead, this honor goes to ex-Knick Precious Achiuwa, who, after telling Stefan Bondy of the Post that he was underutilized last season, came out and put up a double-double against his former team, earning himself a post-game interview and the Kings honor of lighting the beam after a home win.

Roadkill

Everybody was bad. But when you’re paying someone north of $50 million dollars to be your second-best player, who can take over when Jalen is out, expectations are much higher.

Karl Anthony-Towns managed to score just 13 points on 14 shots. In a game where the Knicks desperately needed offense, he only put up one three-point shot, which he missed. Everyone struggles shooting the ball from time to time but he also only grabbed four rebounds in 33 minutes of play and contributed three turnovers. After the game, Mike Brown called out KAT’s lack of defensive effort on one particular play resulting in a made three-pointer for Russell Westbrook of the Kings where he seemed content to just jog back on defense. “When you fall down, you have to get up and sprint down the floor. There was no urgency” said Brown of Towns. I’m happy something was said because the Knicks dreams will not be realized if Towns continues to play this way.

OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges should not be excused either. The duo combined to shoot an anemic 11 for 33 from the field and 2 for 15 from deep. Even worse, they allowed the Kings wings, Zack Lavine (25 points) and DeMar DeRozan (27 points) to go off.⁷

Next Up

No rest for the weary Knicks, who must make the short trip to San Francisco to play the Golden State Warriors on Thursday evening, the final game of their four-game west coast swing. Jalen Brunson didn’t leave the game last night in any type of cast or walking boot, which is a good sign for his ankle. The Knicks haven’t yet ruled him out, but he is unlikely to play against the Warriors.

1. A lawn-sport combining elements of Bowling and Cornhole.

2. Formerly known as Arco Arena.

3. That streak is busted.

4. Little did I know how incorrectly prescient I would be.

5. Garbage time.

6. Never before had the Knicks shot under 40% from the field, under 20% from three, and under 70% from the free-throw line until last night.

7. DeRozan passed Kevin Garnett for 22nd place on the all-time list for career points scored.