Daily Report – 1/15/26
Knicks
In the words of the legendary Steve Somers, Sacratomato is a great place to live if you’re a vegetable. Hopefully, the veggies didn’t eat Jalen Brunson, who exited yesterday’s game midway through the first quarter with a non-contact injury to his right ankle, the one that’s bothered him for years. The Knicks went on to a lowly 112-101 loss in Mike Brown’s return to Sacramento.
The most frustrating thing about this loss was the lifeless performance the Knicks displayed after losing their star captain. Forget about the disappointing 101 points they scored while shooting an abysmal 8-for-41 from downtown. The Knicks could not get any stops on defense. Sacramento shot 47% (35-for-74) from the field. But worst of all, the Knicks helped them score 32 points from the free-throw line.
“Offense is secondary to how s**t our defense was,” said Josh Hart, who scored just 10 points in 32 minutes. “Gave up what, 40 free throws? Undisciplined. Didn’t lock in on the game plan. It was an embarrassment. Today, I really don’t care about the offense. Defensively, we’ve got to figure it out.”
When the Knicks needed him to step up in Brunson’s place, Karl-Anthony Towns reverted to the floppy big man who commits too many fouls. His five personal fouls were the most on the Knicks, while OG Anunoby and Miles McBride each had four. Credit to the Kings, who, despite their 11-30 record, have won three straight games against top NBA teams: New York, Los Angeles, and Houston. It goes to show you the kinds of ruts NBA teams can experience in January.
However, that does not excuse such a piss-poor performance from a crew of supposed championship contenders. Brown, who admitted the Knicks went out drinking the night before their game in Sacramento (I’m not saying this impacted the team’s performance, but still), was quick to call out Towns for being lazy. Recall that Brown benched Towns in the fourth quarter in Portland on Sunday, claiming he preferred Robinson’s hot hands and pace of play.
In the waning minutes of the second quarter, Towns made a defensive mistake and failed to get back in time to defend. That allowed Russell Westbrook to sink an open three-point shot, giving Sacramento a 17-point lead. Brown made sure to hold Towns accountable for his transgressions.
“He drove, he fell down,” Brown said. “When you fall down, you’ve got to get up and sprint down the floor. And even when you’re the last guy down the floor, you’ve got to get down there just in case there’s a long rebound. But there was no urgency. That wasn’t the only play. There were a handful of plays that we did that, but there was no sense of urgency on that particular play to get back. […] We watched the play at halftime, and he didn’t even cross halfcourt. That sums up what our night was.”
Towns’s lack of effort defensively, as well as the entire team’s defensive woes, bore eerie similarities to a trend that impacted the Rangers at Madison Square Garden minutes earlier. None of the Rangers’ defensemen were getting back on defense, which led to the Ottawa Senators scoring eight goals. Hockey and basketball are distinct sports, but they share similarities when it comes to committing to defense.
But the Knicks aren’t the Rangers. These Knicks are supposed to win a championship. So, failing to defend is never excusable, but it has become a trend for the Knicks. However, statistical evidence of defensive struggles does not tell the whole story. Usually, the Knicks at least try to play defense. That wasn’t the case last night.
“The last month, we’ve been a terrible defensive team,” Hart admitted. “At some point, we’ve got to stop making excuses. We’ve got to wake up. We’ve got to make sure we’re locked in on the game plan and put effort in on [the defensive] side of the ball. When we do that, offensively, we’re going to flourish. We’re going to get more possessions. We’re going to run faster. We’re going to play our kind of style.
“Everyone’s going to get the ball, everyone’s going to score, everyone’s going to eat. And we need to do that.”
Eventually, the Knicks will turn the ship. They have to, right? But it feels like Towns is holding them back. He has admitted numerous times this season that he doesn’t understand his role. He has moved from center to power forward to center to power forward too many times. The consistent issue, though, is that he hasn’t played effective defense at either position. He also doesn’t commit to a steady pace of play, which is the architectural foundation of the Knicks’ tower of success.
Too many times this season has Brown had to defend Towns, arguing that he has been affected the most by the adjustments the Knicks have made this season. But it isn’t 2025 anymore. Towns has had plenty of time to adjust to Brown’s system. That’s why the Knicks’ coach has been harder on Towns these last two games.
One of the thorns in the Knicks’ side yesterday was former teammate Precious Achiuwa, whom the Knicks acquired in the OG Anunoby trade in December 2023. Yesterday, he nailed 20 points and 14 rebounds in his best performance of the season. The Big Sneeze got his revenge.
Circling back to the Knicks’ offense, which went 1-for-19 from three-point range in the first half, Brown said his team had “12 sprays for the game. We had plenty of opportunities to spray the ball and play off two feet, but we kept driving and shooting tough shots that we either (A) missed or (B) got blocked. And for us to touch the paint as many times as we did but not share or move [the ball] like we normally do was tough to see.”
Brown claimed that yesterday’s game was the Knicks’ worst execution of a gameplan all season. Fewer sprays mean fewer three-point shooting opportunities, and the Knicks only made eight shots from beyond the arc.
The Knicks are a top-three NBA team from downtown this season, so when they fail to generate sufficient shooting lanes, they struggle to match their typical scoring output. Towns understands the reality that could ensue from his team’s high level of predictability this season.
“Teams got enough tape on us,” he said. “They’re gonna adjust and coordinate their offensive game plan to us. We’ve got to do a better job of executing and making them miss shots. We didn’t do enough of that tonight.”
Without Jalen Brunson, an elite ball mover, it was concerning to see the Knicks fail to replicate his production. Miles McBride and Tyler Kolek combined for 11 assists as backup point guards, but their 17 were not enough.
Fortunately, Brunson reportedly left Golden 1 Center without any significant medical equipment on his right ankle. However, he will NOT play tonight when the Knicks visit the Golden State Warriors in downtown San Francisco (10 PM, 9 PM CT: MSG, Prime Video). Mitchell Robinson is expected to play both games of a back-to-back series for the first time this season, which is a necessity given Towns’s struggles on both sides of the ball.
Schedule
9:00 PM: NYK at GS; MSG, Prime Video
