Two weeks ago, the lowly Sacramento Kings dealt the Knicks one of their worst losses of the season.
Ahead of Tuesday night’s rematch, Knicks head coach Mike Brown was asked what his team needed to do better this time around.
“Everything,” said Brown, who coached the Kings from 2022-24.
“They punched us in the mouth, and we didn’t respond well.”
And while it took more than three quarters Tuesday for the Knicks to deliver the decisive blow, they did enough to emerge with a 103-87 victory over the undermanned Kings at Madison Square Garden.
Karl-Anthony Towns made a pair of 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter, including one 20 seconds into the period that gave the Knicks the lead for good.
That was notable considering three days earlier, the Knicks pulled away in a 112-109 win in Philadelphia with Towns on the bench.
Brown continued to stagger the minutes of his two biggest stars, and Towns’ clutch baskets came with Jalen Brunson on the bench.
Brunson subbed back in with 6:51 left in the game as Towns went to the bench, with the Knicks up by four. Brunson then played the role of finisher, scoring 11 points down the stretch as the Knicks (28-18) iced the win.
Brunson finished with a team-high 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while Towns added 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting with 11 rebounds.
Mikal Bridges added 18 points, while Mitchell Robinson contributed seven points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
That was enough to overcome a season-high 21 turnovers by the Knicks.
It was also enough to survive a big game from Kings star DeMar DeRozan, who exploded for 34 points on a night Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray and Malik Monk sat out with injuries.
In his return to the Garden, forward Precious Achiuwa — who spent 2023-25 with the Knicks — started for the Kings (12-36) and finished with six points and five rebounds.
The Knicks jumped out to an early lead behind 10 points from Brunson and nine from Bridges in the first quarter. An emphatic put-back dunk by Robinson right before the buzzer gave the Knicks a 36-26 lead after the opening period.
But Sacramento outscored the Knicks, 25-16, in the second, largely on the strength of a 9-0 run late in the quarter.
DeRozan capped that run with a 3-pointer with 37.7 seconds before halftime, briefly giving the Kings a 51-50 lead. Towns answered with a driving lay-up on the Knicks’ final possession of the half to give them a 52-51 lead at the break.
Towns spent the final six minutes of the first quarter on the bench, then played the first six minutes of the second quarter with Brunson on the bench.
But Towns checked back in with 4:16 remaining before halftime, and the Kings’ 9-0 run came with all five of the Knicks starters on the floor. DeRozan scored 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting in the first half.
The game remained tight throughout the third quarter, but the Knicks had a chance to pad a four-point lead in the final two minutes of the period.
That was until OG Anunoby committed turnovers on the Knicks’ final three possessions, leading to two easy baskets by Nique Clifford that tied the game, 72-72, through three.
The Knicks outscored the Kings, 31-15, in the fourth.
Tuesday marked the second time this season that Brown faced the Kings, with whom he went 107-88 over parts of three seasons as head coach.
He was the unanimous NBA Coach of the Year for the 2022-23 season after he led the long-suffering Kings to a 48-34 record to snap their 16-year playoff drought – the longest in NBA history.
But the Kings were 13-18 when they fired him less than midway through the 2024-25 season, not even seven months after he signed a multi-year extension worth $8.5 million annually.
The Knicks hired Brown in July, replacing Tom Thibodeau.
The Kings entered Tuesday with a 39-59 record (.398) since firing Brown, but one of those wins came against the Knicks, 112-101, on Jan. 14 in Sacramento.
Brunson suffered an ankle injury only five minutes into that loss, but the Kings were without Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray that night.
That defeat kicked off a four-game losing streak by the Knicks, who have now won three in a row since.
The Knicks are set to face the Toronto Raptors on the road on Wednesday night.
