To begin a five-game homestand against the Western Conference, the New York Knicks will welcome the surging Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
Winners in three of four games, New York looks to inch closer to the second-place Boston Celtics, who sit two games ahead of the Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings. New York hasn’t played since Tuesday’s 99-95 road win over the Brooklyn Nets, when newly named All-Star starters Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson had 25 and 17 points, respectively.
Brunson, now in his third season in New York, understands the importance of staying level-headed over the long NBA season.
“This can be a roller coaster; every season has its highs and lows,” said Brunson, who leads the team with 26 points and 7.3 assists per game. “It’s all about us staying even-keeled, staying poised, staying confident within each other and continuing to keep moving forward.”
Towns was selected to his fifth All-Star Game. After being traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves in October, Towns has averaged 25.1 points and 13.9 rebounds per game and has recorded 10 double-doubles in his last 11 games entering Saturday.
Behind the Knicks’ All-Stars, Mikal Bridges adds 17.9 points per game, while OG Anunoby chips in 16.
Saturday marks the Kings’ second of a six-game road trip, and the team enters play as the winner in 10 of 13 games since firing head coach Mike Brown on Dec. 27.
Since interim coach Doug Christie has taken over, Sacramento has played itself back into postseason contention. Currently sitting in the ninth spot in the Western Conference, the Kings are just two games behind the fifth seed in the conference’s tightly packed playoff picture.
Despite Sacramento’s 132-123 road loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, the resurgent Kings showed fight even in defeat. After trailing by 25 points entering the fourth quarter, Sacramento cut its deficit to five points before time ran out.
“That’s the type of fight and resiliency we want,” Christie said of the comeback. “If we fight and are resilient in that way, the byproduct will be a win most nights. That’s what I expect out of us, and I believe that’s what they’re expecting out of themselves.”
In Thursday’s loss, DeMar DeRozan had 24 points, while Domantas Sabonis added 23 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists.
The Kings would like to see star point guard De’Aaron Fox break out of his mini-slump on Saturday. Fox, who leads the team with 25.4 points per game, was 7-for-24 from the field on Thursday and hasn’t eclipsed the 20-point mark in four straight games.
“When he breaks through, he’ll be fine,” Christie said of Fox. “He’s going to continue to be the special player that we need him to be. … There are other ways to impact the game. For me, what he does doesn’t get equated by the box score.”
DeRozan averages 21.9 points per game and Sabonis adds 21.0 points and a league-high 14.4 rebounds per contest.
The two teams will meet again on March 10 in Sacramento.