Daily Report – 1/28/26
Knicks
It wasn’t pretty, but the Knicks earned their third consecutive victory yesterday, beating the bottom-feeding Sacramento Kings 103-87 at Madison Square Garden. DeMar DeRozan was the no-namer selected to explode, and his 34 points accounted for 42.5% of his team’s total scoring.
The game was tight and gritty for most of the opening 36 minutes. The Knicks led 52-51 at halftime the score was tied at 72 after the third quarter. At that point, the Knicks had turned the ball over 16 times.
“I thought [the turnovers] were self-inflicted,” Brown said. “We need to do a better job of playing off two feet.”
The Knicks were lucky to be hanging on, and by the end of the night, they were fortunate the Kings had missed 25 of their 30 three-point shots, including several uncontested attempts. Yet, somehow, the Knicks outscored Sacramento 31-15 in the fourth quarter, and by holding them to just 87 points, their defensive rating improved to the 16th-best mark in the league. Just a week ago, their defense ranked 19th.
“It was an ugly game,” said Jalen Brunson, whose 28 points were the most by any Knicks player. “It wasn’t pretty, but we were able to grind it out and find a way to win. I think that’s very important for us.”
Winning, in any capacity, must be the Knicks’ top priority right now. With a 28-18 record, they currently hold the third seed in the Eastern Conference, but that is only because Toronto has played two more games than New York.
The Knicks will visit the Raptors tonight, who are coming off a two-point win over top-ranked Oklahoma City. Tonight’s game will be a massive test for the Knicks, and it is a must-win contest.
Mitchell Robsinson believes his team is “really making a turn.” To be clear, the Knicks did not defend well against Sacramento, but they did take control of the pace of play in the fourth quarter. Brunson scored 11 points, making all four of his shots in his vintage close-out fashion. Interestingly, Karl-Anthony Towns lost fourth-quarter minutes to Robinson once again, who finished the game with a team-high +25 rating with 13 rebounds in 27 minutes.
“He brought a level of energy tonight,” said head coach Mike Brown. “Especially defensively. That helped us get over the hump.”
The Knicks have made it very clear they do not intend to play Robinson twice in any back-to-back sets of games this season. Tonight, he will sit on the sidelines with Miles McBride for load management purposes. Josh Hart, who is still recovering from a right ankle injury, might not play either, and Jalen Brunson is questionable with an illness.
Clearly, this makes tonight’s task – beating Toronto – even more difficult for the Knicks. Moreover, it has become clear that Brown does not trust Towns to close games. He clearly favors Robinson, who has emerged as an elite defender this season.
“At the end of the game, we had a group out on the floor that was playing well,” Brown said yesterday. “It was a tight ballgame, so I just rode that group to the end of the game, which I’ve done before. We have [McBride] out there, who’s not a starter, [Robinson] out there, who’s not a starter. We needed to get the win.”
Last night’s fourth quarter featured a 13-0 run by New York that helped them turn a five-point lead into 18 points. It began and ended with a three-point shot by Brunson. Also in the quarter: Seven points from Bridges and five from Anunoby. Bridges and McBride led the team defensively, posting +16 ratings in the frame. The Knicks also cut down on turnovers in the fourth quarter, committing just two.
“Whenever you play off of one foot, you’re gonna get yourself into trouble,” Brown said. “If you leave your feet with no place to go, you think somebody is open, there’s a good chance that the defense is gonna rotate and take that away, and now you’re in trouble.”
On Saturday in Philadelphia, Brown did not deploy any big men in crunch time. Last night, he opted for Brunson, Robinson, McBride, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby. Tonight in Toronto, his team will be without two, if not three, of those five players.
Schedule
7:00 PM (6:00 PM CST): NYR at LI; MSG2, MSGSN, Gotham Sports
7:30 PM (6:30 PM CST): NYK at TOR; MSG, Gotham Sports
3:30 AM (2:30 AM CST): 2026 Australian Open, Women’s Semifinals; Rod Laver Arena; ESPN, ESPN App
3:30 AM (2:30 AM CST): First Semifinal – A. Sabalenka [1] vs. E. Svitolina [12]; ESPN, ESPN App
Latest Late Night: Second Semifinal – J. Pegula [6] vs. E. Rybakina [5]; ESPN, ESPN App
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Knicks
