Mar 10, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) shoots the ball against Sacramento Kings center Jonas Valanciunas (17) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Oof. The Sacramento Kings were bullied in Sacramento Monday night by the New York Knicks. New York controlled pretty much the whole game on both ends of the floor and by late third quarter this one was well over, as the Knicks cruised to a 133-104 win.
Sacramento’s struggle to keep pace with the Knicks began in the first quarter as a result of New York’s physicality and hot shooting. Miles McBride dropped in 15 points in the quarter and the Knicks finished the quarter shooting 61% from the field and 71% from three. Is that good? The Kings were losing the rebound battle 14-6 at that point and shooting just 31% from the field, putting them in a 37-22 deficit by the end of the first quarter.
The Kings showed a little fight in the second quarter with a 10-0 run and at the 7:38 mark they were only down by 10. Despite this and getting the Knicks into the penalty early through the second, the Knicks were able to respond and regain momentum. The Kings could not contain New York’s ball movement and continued to be unable to match their physicality. At halftime, Sacramento was down 66-51 and the writing was on the wall that Malik Monk’s return to action from the toe injury might be spoiled. The Knicks were still shooting 55% from the field at the half and had 18 assists to the Kings 10. And the Kings only had 6 fast break points.
Things had to get better in the second half, right?
Wrong.
The lead ballooned to over 20 with a barrage of threes and defensive pressure the Kings could not figure out. Sacramento looked the part of playing on the second night of a back to back as the offense often was a mix of last-option, three-point heaves and broken pick and rolls. Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby easily dissected the Kings defense and Sacramento’s leading scorer in the game, Monk, exited to the locker room late in the third. The Knicks finished the third shooting 55% from three and the Kings were down 103-77.
At this point, the fourth quarter was a formality as the Knicks dominance continued. The Kings defense never found an answer for New York’s ball movement and three point shooting. And the Kings offense never found a rhythm thanks to the Knicks physicality. The fourth quarter opened up some nice minutes for Isaac Jones, but other than that, this 133-104 blowout was written way before that.
[As Monk put it after the game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo98FzSMySM), they just “punked us tonight.” He also said he left the game in the third to get his toe checked, but it is all good.
**The Good**
* **Malik Monk’s Return:** Monk scored 21 points to the lead the team in scoring, and it is good that he is OK after he exited the game in the second half.
* **Free Throw Shooting:** I’m searching here for the good, but the Kings did shoot 84% from the free throw line (22-26) to the Knicks 80%.
* **Points In The Paint:** Somehow, the Kings managed to win the points in the paint battle 44-40.
* **Isaac Jones:** Jones got 19 minutes and finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. He is athletic, lively and makes his presence felt when he is on the floor.
* **The Knicks Starters:** All five players scored at least 15 and had at least 3 assists. Towns and Anunoby had no trouble with the Kings defense.
**The Bad**
It is difficult to single out a few things when so much went wrong.
* **Defense and Physicality:** Monk put it best saying the Knicks punked the Kings. New York won rebounds, steals, turnovers and fast break points. The Kings were held to 29% from three.
* **Ball Movement:** The Knicks won the assist category 34-18.
* **Fast Break Points:** The Knicks won this category 26-8, yeesh.
**The Ugly**
The bad and the ugly sort of blend together here.
* **Kings 3 Point Defense:** The Knicks shot 55% from three. It was something from pretty much start to finish the Kings had no answer for.
* **First Quarter:** This quarter really set the tone. The Knicks won it 37-22 and it was a punch the Kings couldn’t recover from.
* **Lack Of Competitiveness:** This is just one of those games in which the Kings had nothing to fight back with aside from a couple of short-lived runs. The largest deficit of the night was 35 points.
**Up Next**
The Kings will take on the Golden State Warriors Thursday at 7 p.m. in San Francisco.