Jalen Brunson went out with a sprained right ankle early in the 1st quarter, and the Knick offense limped along all night afterwards, shooting a horrid 8-41 from 3 (20 percent) — their worst 3-pt shooting night of the season — in a 112-101 loss to the Kings in Sacramento.
Former Knick Precious Achiuwa got revenge after NY let him loose after last season — chewing up the Knicks all night with 20 pts (on 7-14 shooting, 2-4 from 3), 14 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. The Knicks were also chewed up by Sacramento’s veteran backcourt of DeMar DeRozan (who had 27 pts), Russell Westbrook (19 pts), and Zach LaVine (25 pts on 8-14 shooting, 5-9 from 3).
Sacramento jumped out to a 32-17 lead after 1 quarter, pushed the lead to 20 pts in the 2nd quarter, pushed the lead to 25 points in the 3rd quarter, and led by double-digits for almost the entirety of the 4th quarter; NY got 3 straight buckets in the final 80 seconds to make the final score seem close.
“In my opinion it was the worst 40 minutes of basketball the Knicks have played all season,” said Knick analyst and former Knick player Steve Novak afterwards about the first 3+ quarters.
NY drops to 25-15, and have lost 6 of their last 8. Sacramento improves to 11-30.
1. Brunson Sprains Ankle; Kings Jump Out to Big Lead
Precious Achiuwa became a free agent in the off season, and the Knicks let him go, instead signing Guerschon Yabusele for 2 years at $6 million a year because of his ability to hit the 3 ball in addition to providing toughness underneath. Precious — who played so well for NY the last 2 years — was without a job as the season started — before finally signing with Sacramento on a 1-year contract for $2 Million.
Precious has quickly become a starter for the Kings, and came out on fire in this game — scoring again and again on inside drives in the 1st quarter.
precious on a roll early 💪 pic.twitter.com/jRqdwEfHww
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 15, 2026
DeMar DeRozan was hitting mid-range shots, and Sacramento raced out to a 16-8 lead.
Things got worse for NY when Jalen Brunson went out with a sprained right ankle with 7 minutes left in the 1st quarter.
Zach LaVine added a deuce, a 3, and free throws late in the quarter as Sacramento increased their lead to 32-17.
2. KAT Scored 11 Pts in 1st Quarter — Finishes with 13 Pts
Karl-Anthony Towns came out on fire for NY — scoring 11 points in the 1st quarter.
impacting offense AND defense.
vote KAT for #NBAAllStar starter ⭐️ https://t.co/Ov3esq1i8z pic.twitter.com/MOAIthOTNF
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 15, 2026
But Sacramento made adjustments and shut down KAT the rest of the night — he finished with only 13 pts. It became one of KAT’s worst games of the year. In the 2nd half he had 0 pts on 0-3 shooting with 4 personal fouls.
His poor play included a play in the 2nd quarter where he fell down driving to the basket, continued to stay down as his Knick teammates got a 4-on-5 stop and then remained on the ground as a miss was tipped up the court. The Kings then hit a 3.
KAT cam for the play in question https://t.co/dmgkBtTsKV pic.twitter.com/X5UK22AY3M
— ALL NBA Podcast (@ALLCITY_NBA) January 15, 2026
Afterwards, coach Mike Brown called KAT out: “Something happened where he fell down — when you fall down you gotta get up, you gotta sprint down the floor, and even if you’re the last guy down the floor you gotta get down there just in case there’s a long rebound. But there was no urgency. Now, that wasn’t the only play; there were a handful of plays where we did that, but there was no sense of urgency on that particular play to get back, and it was a 5-pt swing. If he at least gets down the floor, the long rebound he’s gonna get it because he’s trailing the play — but we watched the play at halftime and he didn’t even cross half court. That sums up what our night was.
3. Sacramento Goes Up by 20 Pts in 2nd Quarter
KAT’s misplay was a representative example of the Knicks’ night — they were a step late on defense and kept missing all their 3’s.
Mitchell Robinson came in to play a strong interior game, scoring some buckets inside midway thru the 2nd quarter, but Sacramento pushed their lead to 20 pts on buckets by Malik Monk, DeRozan, Russell Westbrook and LaVine.
A Josh Hart drive pulled NY to within 14 — 56-42 Sacramento — at the half.
4. Sacramento Goes Up by 25 Pts in 3rd Quarter
The Kings scored the first 7 pts of the 3rd quarter — culminated by a Precious Achiuwa 3 — to take a 21-pt lead.
Sacramento extended the lead to 25 pts at one point, and led by around 20 throughout the period. The Knicks kept missing 3’s.
Zach buries it from three 🏹 pic.twitter.com/FhI6UmiUFk
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 15, 2026
5. Knicks Pull Within 14 Midway thru 4th — But No Closer
NY was down by 22 when Jordan Clarkson made consecutive buckets and Mikal Bridges hit a 3 to pull NY to within 15 at 100-85 with 7:16 left.
A McBride pullup and OG Anunoby slam pulled NY within 14 with 4:31 left.
But Sacramento kept having answers — getting key buckets from DeRozan or LaVine — and NY was never able to get closer until some buckets in the final 1:40 pulled them to within 9 with 48 seconds left. Too little, too late.
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