Scenes from Brunson and Hartenstein breaking crowns in Sacramento

The New York Knicks (40-27) faced off against the Sacramento Kings (38-28) at the Golden 1 Center on Saturday in the second of a four-game Western Conference tour. The trip started on the right foot, with a win against the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday. Domantas Sabonis and the Kings promised a more serious challenge, however.

The game began with both teams grinding each other’s gears, leading to a tight first-quarter finish and the high-scoring Kings feeling thoroughly stymied. A closely contested first half included seven ties and 14 lead changes, but the Knicks kept the clamps on the home team and led 53-48 at intermission. The Brunson Burner was aflame. The third saw more of the same, with Kings keeping up despite Jalen scoring 12 points and Isaiah Hartenstein holding Sabonis scoreless. Sacramento briefly took a lead to start the fourth, but tough defense and another heroic Brunson performance led New York to a 98-91 win.

The Kings average 118.4 points per game. Tonight they scored 91, their second-lowest score this season. Credit goes to the usual culprits, with Hartenstein, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby applying the shackles. Sabonis finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, but scored no fourth-quarter points. Hartenstein had his number tonight.

Brunson ended the night with 42 points on 17-of-28 shooting (5-of-10 from deep) and joined Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, and Carmelo Anthony as the only Knicks ever to score back-to-back 40+ games. Hartenstein grabbed 14 rebounds and Hart took 12, and Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic contributed solid fourth-quarter minutes in the hard-fought win.

First Half

Concern surrounded the availability of New York’s utility man OG Anunoby after his surgically repaired elbow acted up in Portland. He suited up tonight and started the scoring with a baseline jam. The Knickerbocker spirit lives in this one’s bones.

Both teams played funky and clunky to start. Both teams committed three turnovers in the first three minutes, both teams made one of their first four shots, and both were rattled by their rival’s defensive intensity. The Knicks were up 11-9 by midway through the first.

The score swayed back and forth while Domantas Sabonis and Jalen Brunson jousted, scoring 13 and six first-quarter points respectively. A lot of contact went unwhistled. The Kings crept farther ahead late in the period, and Sabonis had a noticeably easier time executing after Isaiah Hartenstein checked out at 4:30. By the end of the quarter, the Knicks were down 22-21. Limiting the Kings to 21 was impressive, actually, considering that the Kings average 30.4 first-quarter points.

Thanks to a 9-3 run, and an Alec Burks three-pointer, New York reclaimed the lead early in the second.

Whenever the Knicks tugged at their robes, however, the Kings fired back. De’Aaron Fox is Sacramento’s top scorer, but his defense stood out. He pestered Jalen Brunson in the first period, but midway through the second, Jalen broke the code and scored seven unanswered points to inch his club ahead by three again.

Here Jalen demonstrates that good stuff we love so much:

Sabonis is a lion-hearted competitor who kept his team close by scoring 18 points and seven rebounds in the first half. Nonetheless, New York closed the half up 53-48. Yessir, the Kings average 60.1 first-half points and the Knicks’ defense kept them 48. [Insert muscle emoji.]

As for those finicky refs, the Kings shot 12 free throws to New York’s five. Make of that what you will. . . . New York had shot 50% from the floor and benefited from Sacramento’s futile field goal (39%) and three-point shooting (28%). The teams were dead even for rebounds (22), points in the paint (22), and turnovers (6). Brunson led all first-half scorers with 21.

Second Half

Who but Jalen Brunson? He started the second half with a steal and two buckets that quickly chased Mike Brown’s boys into a timeout. He’s also quite a jester. Here he encourages the California crowd to acknowledge Josh Hart.

A Josh Hart flagrant foul on Keegan Murray slowed the game down, killed New York’s momentum, and turned the tables. The Kings went on a 9-1 run to come within one before Donte DiVincenzo hit his third three-pointer and stabilized the lead. (DiVo shot 3-of-12 from long.) Just past the quarter’s middle, Malik Monk swished a triple to give Sacramento a brief advantage. The lead swung to and fro. Sabonis, Monk, Fox, and Murray all earned their pay for Sacramento, while Jalen Brunson added 12 third quarter points and Josh Hart gave his usual stellar effort for New York. Our heroes brought a 75-74 lead into the final frame.

In the third, Hartenstein worked that rascal Sabonis over, limiting him to zero points and one rebound. Sabonis would score three points and two rebounds after Isaiah checked out. Normally the assignment would have fallen to Julius Randle, but iHart fulfilled his duties beautifully. Like so:

Sophomore Keegan Murray has shot 36% from deep this season. He was woeful from downtown tonight (1-of-7), but his triple to start the fourth quarter put the Kings ahead again. New York went 0-for-4 from the field before Bojan Bogdanovic finally hit a three around the 8:30 mark. Sabonis would brick two free throws and a jumper, allowing the Knicks to creep ahead. Bogey and Burks contributed some quality minutes in the fourth, scoring five points on a 9-0 run.

The Kings were nipping when Hartenstein freight-trained Sabonis from the foul line to the rim for a timely And-1 with three minutes left. With under a minute left, iHart and Anunoby pressured Sabonis into a double-dribble, Jalen Brunson drove for his 40th point of the game, and the game was sealed. The Knicks had snapped Sacramento’s diadems and escaped with a tough road win, 98-91.

Up Next

On to the Golden State Warriors on Monday. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score