De’Aaron Fox had 30 points and 8 assists, carrying the Sacramento Kings down the stretch to a 102-94 victory over the Knicks on Saturday afternoon in the opener of a four-game trip.
Fox scored 12 points in the final six minutes after the Knicks had erased a 12-point lead to take a 2-point lead.
“At the end of the game, once you see something’s working, you kind of keep going back to it, keep going to it, keep going to it, and I think that’s what we did,” Fox said.
Buddy Hield added 19 points for the Kings, who need a strong performance during their trip to the East after entering play four games behind San Antonio for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Dennis Smith Jr. scored 18 points for the Knicks, but was hit with a technical foul for his reaction to getting bumped from behind by Nemanja Bjelica after a basket with the Knicks down 2 with 2 minutes 12 seconds left.
“It was a dead ball and he came up and pushed me,” Smith said. “I retaliated and got us a tech. I shouldn’t have done it and they knocked down the free throw. It changed the game a little bit.”
DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and 15 rebounds in the Knicks’ fifth straight loss.
“We missed like six point-blank layups uncontested at the rim, and we just can’t afford that to win games,” Knicks Coach David Fizdale said.
The score was tied, 68-68, with under three and a half minutes remaining in the third before Hield scored 5 straight points to start a 12-0 run to finish the quarter. Fox had 4 points during the run, including a driving layup to cap it and make it 80-68 heading to the fourth.
New York rallied to an 89-87 lead midway through the fourth after Luke Kornet’s 3-pointer capped an 11-0 burst, but Fox made five of Sacramento’s final six baskets, including a pair of 3-point plays.
The noon start was a challenge for both teams, with Sacramento Coach Dave Joerger noting that meant it was 9 a.m. back home for his players, and the Knicks just coming back from their trip to the West. He rubbed his eyes before the game to demonstrate that it could be two tired teams on the floor.
The Knicks had the energy early, racing to leads of 7-0 and 24-9. Sacramento cut it to 30-23 by the end of the first quarter, then limited New York to 16 points in the second to grab a 48-46 edge at the half.
Bjelica had 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Kings, who have won three in a row against the Knicks.
LAKERS’ INGRAM OUT FOR SEASON Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram, a former No. 2 overall pick, will miss the rest of the season with a deep venous thrombosis in his right arm. Ingram has missed the Lakers’ past two games after he reported shoulder pain following a morning shootaround. Lakers Coach Luke Walton had said Ingram had pain whenever he attempted to lift his arm. A deep venous thrombosis is a condition caused by a blood clot, frequently accompanied by swelling and pain in a limb. The condition usually occurs in legs, but can occur in the upper body.
Blood clots have affected several prominent athletes including Chris Bosh and Serena Williams in recent years. Bosh eventually retired because of blood clotting issues, but many other athletes have continued to play.
Ingram is averaging a career-best 18.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game along with 3.0 assists.
